


Refuge (incomplete, will be rewritten)

by marzantd



Series: The Romance of the Moons of Mandalore [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: Rise of Empire Era - All Media Types
Genre: Adoption, Autistic Character, Battle Scenes, F/F, Fluff, Lesbians in Space, Marriage, Same-Sex Marriage, birthdays are the same as on earth apparently, stim shaming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-20 04:38:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14887796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marzantd/pseuds/marzantd
Summary: The Galactic Empire reigns. A year after the Siege of Mandalore, the Regent of Mandalore, Bo-Katan Kryze, is deposed and replaced by Gar Saxon, who has the backing of the Emperor. Chirangi Nuskell serves in the Mandalorian government, but she and Jeshka grow discontent. This is not the Mandalore either of them fought for. As Gar Saxon and his Imperial allies expand their power on Mandalore, Chirangi seeks another place for her and her love to live their lives in peace...





	1. Chapter 1

Bo-Katan sat unarmoured opposite Chirangi and Jeshka. A small plasma fire crackled in the hearth, of the room in Chirangi's old house on Astore. Jeshka's head lay in Chirangi's lap, and Chirangi was gently stroking Jeshka's hair as they talked. Chirangi had shortened her hair again, and it now lay in a messy cloud of curls that hung to just above her shoulder.

"It's going to be difficult to get you off Mandalore. The Empire is monitoring every single departure and arrival. You'd need to either have legitimate business elsewhere or a  _very_ good smuggler," Bo-Katan informed.

"I think I can arrange the legitimate business. I'm in the Mandalorian government, and there's a mission departing for the Imperial Senate on Coruscant in a couple weeks' time. If we can find someone willing to resettle us there, we can make our way unimpeded." 

"Someone's going to need to scout out some sympathizers who'll get you offworld. You'll have to arrange employment with someone on a suitable planet, one where the Empire doesn't have its fingers buried quite as deep as they do here."  
  
"I know someone who can do the scouting, someone we can trust. Three someones, in fact."  
  
Jahtee, along with Vuche and her now wife, Belka, ran a small, legit freight business out of Coruscant. They generally kept their noses clean, and the Empire didn't tend to bother them outside the usual "random" checks that the overzealous port authorities often imposed on non-humans. The tensions in the galaxy were running higher now, and it was felt everywhere. 

The three of them could undertake a mission to the Senate to identify a Senator there who might be able to take Chirangi and Jeshka to somewhere safe. 

"Ah, our freighter friends? Not a bad plan. Keeping it legit is your best bet right now. I know firsthand what the Empire does to illegal fugitives," Bo-Katan said, grimacing at the memory. Jeshka and Chirangi would rather not find out what exactly that was.

***

From the terrace of the cafe on Coruscant's middle level, Belka could see the Senate Rotunda, where Chancellor - now Emperor - Palpatine had announced the beginning of the Empire a year ago. In that short time, the atmosphere on the world had changed considerably. People kept to themselves now, out of fear of the ever-watching eye of the Emperor. Associating with the wrong people could be dangerous, and most citizens would prefer to avoid any suspicious activity that would give the Imperial authorities free reign to bring them in for "questioning", again and again. The end of the Clone Wars and the defeat of the Separatists had not brought a reduction in the patrols of shield-and-baton wielding Clones, who were now more aggressive in their repression. Demonstrations against the Emperor, which had been planned several times, were hastily abandoned when the organizers found themselves jailed for conspiracy. Even entertainment was subject to crackdowns, any record of the Jedi being forbidden explicitly from broadcast on any mainstream holonet channel. 

A droid waiter brought their drinks. A small ring glinted in the sunlight on Vuche's finger as she picked up her tea and blew off some of the steam. Her horns had been filed down, and were now uniformly short and rounded. She'd faced a series of increasingly aggressive "suggestions" to make that modification by the port authorities at the docking bay their company was based at. The excuses alternated between "creating a more professional environment" and something about frightening children. She'd complied, eventually, but was not happy about it. 

They'd just got back to Coruscant yesterday after a run to Corulag when Belka's holo-communicator had beeped, and Jeshka's transmission relayed what she had been talking about with Bo-Katan and Chirangi yesterday. The trio hadn't returned to Mandalore since their part in the siege, but understood Jeshka and Chirangi's wish to leave. From the sound of it, conditions were even worse on Mandalore than here, where the labyrinthine nature of the city still offered a couple of places of respite. 

"So, it sounds like our best bet for finding a senator who'll help them is to ask at the port for missions of relief supplies and see who's sending out aid," Jahtee said. A Senator who was using their position to go against mainstream Imperial shipping and use private contractors to subtly ship urgent supplies - medicine, food, equipment - to people that the Empire was willing to leave behind, could be one who would assist in the evacuation of two people who didn't wish to see their world fall further into the grip of the Empire. Saxon's government had set up an Imperial Academy on Mandalore - the young children who were the future of their world were subject to indoctrination, suggestions that the Empire was the best thing for Mandalore, from the moment they were born. Chirangi had already done everything she could do within her position, but Saxon's rule left little room for altruism.

Later that day, the next trip of JaVuBe Freight was arranged. Their ship, a sizable Corellian Model FF-7 Cargo Barge, was loaded up with supplies bound for the Outer Rim, and paid for by the Senator from Alderaan.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On Coruscant, Jeshka and Chirangi execute their plan to relocate to Alderaan.

Chirangi's eyes widened as she looked out the window of the blocky, unarmed consular vessel. She'd never seen so many starships gathered in one place before. Jeshka laughed out loud at Chirangi's open-mouthed stare.

"Like it? This is Coruscant, centre of the Galaxy. It's nothing special if you ask me..."

Chirangi turned to her and giggled. "If I ask you, maybe, Miss Experienced-Star-Pilot. I've hardly been away from Mandalore until now. I used to dream of coming to Coruscant one day, ever since I first saw it in a book when I was a child. Of course, it was a different place then..."

Chirangi was not the only ambassador from Mandalore sent to Coruscant. Zanni Plath, one of Saxon's minions, was also on board. Chirangi had made sure to stay out of her way in the duration of the trip - easy enough, since the journey was only a few hours, and she had her wonderful girlfriend also on board. Jeshka had been regaling Chirangi with tales of her misdeeds on Coruscant during her smuggler days. She adored the way Chirangi's eyes lit up at stories of other worlds. It was the perfect example of why she loved her so - Chirangi helped Jeshka realise the best in things.

They got ready to depart from the ship. The pilots were guided to the traffic control station, where they would be assigned a vector that would bring them to one of the vast docking facilities in the Senatorial District. The station grew closer, then quickly disappeared into the distance as the ship skimmed into the atmosphere. Soon, the gigantic buildings and spires of Coruscant could just be distinguished from each other from out the window. They grew larger and larger as the ship approached the surface, until the ship was skimming just above the tops of the buildings. In every direction, lines of repulsorcraft hovered along, a network of arteries delivering the lifeblood of Coruscant - people.

The tall buildings opened up to an area of much shorter, flatter complexes, all of which were dwarfed by the colossal Senate building ahead. The ship swooped toward the Senate, slowing down on its approach as it prepared to dock.

Arm in arm with her love, Chirangi stepped down the landing ramp. She wore a formal robe of white, contrasting against her dark skin. Next to her, Jeshka wore a sleeveless top and skirt combination, in the pale blue that had been fashionable back on Mandalore. Her arms and legs were covered by stockings of deep turquoise, and her hair was done up in a triple-tailed style, bound by a single length of styling cord. A black-uniformed Imperial port official greeted them.

"Welcome to Coruscant," the man said, "please proceed straight to your lodgings in the Senate building. There you will be assigned the schedule for your visit. Do not wander the Senate building without a guide. Do not deviate from the schedule. Do not enter designated recreation zones outside of designated recreation times, which can be found on your schedule. Please have a pleasant stay."

Chirangi blinked. She hadn't been given a chance to reply before the official walked away, and a pair of Clone troopers stepped forward from behind him.

"Follow us to your lodgings," one of the Clones said stiffly, and they moved off together.

***

Belka washed the sweat from her workout off in the wide shower of the hotel. Senator Organa had been very welcoming of them, and responded eagerly to the idea of Jeshka and Chirangi coming to work with him on his home world of Alderaan. He had talked excitedly about how he always had openings for anyone who wanted to work in the Alderaan Welfare Corps, and had drafted a pair of job offers for Jeshka and Chirangi if they wanted them. The plan had gone smoothly.

Belka stepped out and dried herself off with a soft towel. Her wife was sitting up on the bed of the hotel. The sky was night-dark outside, but light still glowed from myriad buildings and passing vehicles. 

"Hey, sweetie!" Vuche exclaimed excitedly. Belka had the towel wrapped around her, while Vuche wore a light sleeping gown provided by the hotel. Vuche swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, embracing Belka and giving her a peck on the cheek. "Nice workout?"

"Very," replied Belka, "the equipment they've got here is really great. Good resistance, good adjustments...just perfect. I'm gonna make some tea, you want some?"

"Hm...yeah, go on! Let's take advantage while we're here." 

Belka flicked on the kettle for two cups. Water bubbled up from the supply pipe and was heated to boiling quickly by the electric plate underneath. Belka spooned out two heaps of orange powder into two cups, and pouring the boiling water in. Two cups of spicy tea formed instantly as the powder dissolved in the water.

She walked back over to the bed, setting the cups down on the side table, passing one to Vuche who had sat back on the bed, her knees drawn up to her chest.

"Thanks, love," she said, stretching out her legs again. She sipped the tea before setting it down on the side table. Belka did the same as Vuche reached over her hand and brushed Belka's lekku gently. They leaned in and kissed one another. Belka felt Vuche's hand at her chest, undoing the knot that kept her towel in place. The towel dropped away, and Belka pressed her body against Vuche's. Vuche opened up her own gown, and with her other hand, pressed on the control button that blacked out the window.

***

The Empire had not been quite so generous to Chirangi and Jeshka as Senator Organa had been to Belka, Vuche and Jahtee. Their room was spartan, containing a double-decked bunk like that of a freighter rather than a luxurious double bed. They'd just about had room to cuddle in together on the lower bunk, laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. They discovered the next morning as they broke their fast with some fresh-baked rolls (the food, luckily, was much higher quality than the accommodation), that Ambassador Plath had found herself and her husband in the same situation, when they overheard her complaining loudly to a Senatorial concierge. 

They were going to meet Belka, Jahtee and Vuche outside in the Imperial Plaza (formerly Senate Plaza), at around noon, during one of the "designated recreation times" on their schedule. The trio would be allowed to accompany them on the rest of their visit, and then they could meet with Senator Organa by "coincidence" in the evening. The Senator's authority outweighed their schedule's (yes, this was an official directive) so he could separate them from their supervisors and prevent their return to Mandalore. From there they could take up their new jobs on Alderaan.

A few hours after their breakfast, Jeshka and Chirangi walked hand in hand along the Concourse. Huge, abstractly humanoid statues lined the Concourse, representing the ancient founders of the Republic. Chirangi wondered how long it would be before the Empire replaced them. Robed Senators and other officials passed them, coming from all over the galaxy to this point. Jeshka felt saddened that the Senate, which just last year had at least presented a charade of representation, was practically obsolete now. The Emperor's word overruled almost everything. The change was visible in the countenance of some of the Senators, who looked emptied of something of their spark. What's more, a constant patrol of Clones marched up and down the Avenue, keeping watch for any trouble. Even here one couldn't be too careful.

 Ahead, the pair saw three arms waving at them. The small figures in the distance materialised into a Rodian, Togruta and Zabrak, and Chirangi called out to them. They ran over and met with the trio.

 ***

As the sun set over Coruscant, Jeshka and Chirangi sat with Jahtee, Vuche and Belka around a circular table. Ambassador Plath and her husband sat at a separate table with some Imperial officials. They'd been happy to separate themselves from each other. 

Belka, knowing that the meal was paid for by their Imperial hosts, had ordered several different items for each course. Exotic dishes from all over the galaxy came to the table, served by sleek, wine-red SE-series waiter droids. The assembled group had dressed for a night out. Chirangi had a pale pink dress, backless and armless, and a plethora of golden bangles around her wrists. Jeshka wore a deep purple flowing robe, striped through with black, which pooled at her feet and stretched down over her arms. Jahtee wore a tight fitting jumpsuit, which flared at the leg, solid coloured in dark red. Belka's dress incorporated white stripes in a repeating pattern similar to the pattern on her face along with a long sash that ran down from a belt. The dress was a warm orange, and exposed her muscular arms, and her feet were bare in accordance with Togruta formal tradition. She'd also brought a set of jewelry, fashioned from stones found on Shili. Finally, Vuche wore a black nerf-leather jacket over a white silk blouse, and a pair of dark silken trousers. 

Belka's second dish arrived as the rest of the group were only digging into their starters. She stuffed the last of the grilled fish starter into her mouth as the plate of nerf-cheese tart was placed in front of her. As she wasted not one second in starting to fork pieces of tart, Chirangi took the opportunity to talk with Vuche about their wedding.   
  
"Oh, we held it on Shili, about six months ago. It's a shame you couldn't come, but I understand, you were busy with business on Mandalore. It was the first time Belka'd been to Shili - her parents moved from there to Coruscant over a decade before she was born, but they moved back there just before the Clone Wars. Shili's a lovely place, I hope you can come visit with us some day. Me and Jahtee stayed at Belka's parents' place. My parents are both dead, but my aunt took a trip to the wedding, as did some of the Nite Owls, and some of our friends from Coruscant. The ceremony itself took place way out on the grassy plains where Belka's folks used to go hunting when they were younger. Shili still has great wide wildernesses...the Togruta have taken their natural heritage seriously for millennia. So there we stood, a couple dozen of us in all, all barefooted on the grass. Belka's mum acted as her usher, and Jahtee mine. We took the walk of honour, then we made our vows to each other and kissed, and after that Belka's dad loosed the Thimiar. It's a good luck tradition there that the happy couple catch a Thimiar each and kill them in the traditional manner - one quick bite - before offering them to each other to eat. So we did that, Belka caught hers pretty quick, I took a good minute to grab mine, and I don't have sharp teeth like Belka does, so I just cut its throat with my knife. We'd discussed this all beforehand of course, that counts as honourable enough!" Vuche laughed. 

"It sounds wonderful..." Chirangi said. "Tell you the truth," she said, glancing at Jeshka's head, which was turned away from her, "I think I'm going to propose to Jeshka once we get to Alderaan..."

Vuche squealed and grasped Chirangi's hand. "Oh, that's wonderful! I'll make  _certain_ to visit if you do. No way am I missing an event like that!"

The evening continued pleasantly. Belka had six starters in all. She took on two main courses at once, and had two more waiting afterward. "You ever eat this much before?" Jeshka asked Belka as she reached her fork into a cracked tect-crab leg and scooped out the last of its meat. "Oh yeah, easily. Only when someone else is paying, though!" she giggled. Jeshka watched in awe as Belka finished off the last of the crab meat, pushing the dish aside and reaching out with a pair of metal sticks to grab a roasted Mirial desert beetle wrapped in seaweed, plopping it into her mouth and crunching it. "It's all fuel for my exercises. I burn off a lot through cardio, and the rest I try and build into muscle. And for muscle, I need all the protein I can get!" Belka said, swallowing her beetle and reaching for another.

Jeshka looked down at her own, primarily carb, dish, and at her arm muscles. She was far more toned than she had been the first time she'd met Belka, but still not quite on Belka's level. Ah well, she'd treat herself.

Just as their desserts were arriving, another visitor entered the restaurant. Bail Organa cast his eyes around until they made contact with Vuche's. 

Within the length of one dessert course, Jeshka and Chirangi had their route to Alderaan.

***

At the docks, a light loadlifter droid hefted the last of Chirangi's luggage onto the automated belt that would bring it safely into the cargo bay of Organa's corvette. A number of others who would be working at the Welfare Corps alongside them were gathered to travel back to Alderaan. They looked to be refugees from poor worlds in the Outer Rim, mostly - given a second chance by the generous Bail Organa, to make a life for themselves helping others.   
  
"Well, we'll see you some time, I'm sure. If you're ever in our little corner of the galaxy, swing by and say hi!" Jeshka said to Jahtee, who had come to see them off.

"And if you ever need any cargo shipped, make sure to use JaVuBe Freight!" Jahtee laughed. "See you around, my friends. I'll make sure to meet you again as soon as I can." With that, they briefly embraced Jeshka, then Chirangi, before stepping back and waving them off. Just behind, Vuche and Belka, their hands joining them together, waved with opposite arms. Jeshka offered her own hand to Chirangi, who took it, and together they walked up the boarding ramp to their new life.


	3. Chapter 3

In the small tent set up on the top of a small hill, Chirangi and Jeshka stood close to one another. Their armours, that had been their companions in battle and now in peace, were on their bodies. Their hands were clasped tightly together and they knelt, their helmets just touching. Chirangi's heart raced as she finished reciting the Mandalorian pledge of marriage. That was it. By the ancient customs of Mandalore, they were now married. They stood, removed their helmets, and kissed once. Tears of joy began to flow down Jeshka's face, and she held Chirangi's hand tight, stroking it against her cheek.

"I love you, Chirangi," she said. It was all that was needed.

***

A few hours later, as the sun went down, the party was in full swing. Chirangi and Jeshka sat in two chairs at the head of the table. Around them the various guests - among them a group of other Mandalorian refugees who had fled to Alderaan, alongside Viola Nuskell, as well as Jahtee, Belka and Vuche - talked and laughed. A wedding ring shone on each of their left hands now. Next to the table, a group of children ran and played in the grass.   
  
As the sun crossed the horizon, bathing the hill in deep orange, the Alderaan Mirial Drummers, who had been hired specially for the event, played a celebratory wedding concert. Jeshka and Chirangi's souls soared at the music. Its effect was even more pronounced when it was performed live.

***

Six months after their wedding, Jeshka and Chirangi were paying a visit at Bail Organa's request to the Royal Palace. He and his wife Breha sat out in the courtyard with Chirangi and Jeshka, overlooking the lakefront and snowy peaks ahead. The couple's young adopted daughter babbled excitedly at everything around her. Jeshka held the young Leia on her lap as Chirangi talked to Bail.

"Now, I'm sorry to say I've brought you and your wife here due to some unfortunate circumstances. Recently, two deep-space pilots from Espirion were killed when their ship collided with an asteroid. A terrible accident, and they left behind two young children here on Alderaan, where their mother was from. I understand that Mandalorian culture has a tradition of adoption, so I thought I'd let you know before we sent them to a foster home. I know you and Jeshka will make great parents, should you choose to accept. They're a brother and sister - she's three years old, and he is just one."  
  
Chirangi blinked. "I'll...We'll talk about it. We haven't really talked much about children yet..."

"Take your time," said Bail, "the children will be well looked after here."

***

A little fluffy white hair covered the baby's - Katon's - head. His red skin showed his Espirion heritage. Katon Nuskell, he would be known as from now on. Jeshka had taken Chirangi's surname due to her one-time position as head of a Clan, though the clan itself was mostly dissolved now, its holdings absorbed into the Astore branch of the Saxon clan. Chirangi held on tightly to Katon with one hand, and gently clasped Jeshka's with her other. To Jeshka's right, their daughter, Hikaarni Nuskell, pottered along, trying to catch up with her adoptive mother's steps. 

The family crossed the path together, walking into the sunset to the little round house that lay secluded among the shousaberry bushes. Toward home.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five years after adopting their two young children, Chirangi and Jeshka meet up with their old friends on a pleasure cruise organised by the Imperial Governor of Secundus Ando. Rumours of a rebellion against the Empire grow...

Vuche turned down the offer of Andoan wine from the Aqualish server. Belka took a glass off the tray. Vuche was usually not one to turn down a drink, but she was one month pregnant right now.

She was talking with Chirangi and Jeshka about the circumstances of her pregnancy. "JaVuBe's expanded, we've got a whole fleet now operating across the galaxy, so we could have afforded to get a baby made by combining our genetics at a cloning facility," Vuche informed, referring to the process that was used by many wealthy couples of the same sex who wished for a baby, "but Togruta and Zabrak genetics aren't compatible. We talked it over for a while, and we considered adoption, like you've had, but in the Core Worlds it's hard for a non-human couple to adopt. The Empire runs all the orphanages there, they only want the kids to go to good Imperial families..." Vuche shook her head. "So, we went for an in vitro. It was just chance that I was the one to bear the child - a compatible Zabrak donor happened to come up before a Togruta one. And so, we carried out the process, my egg got fertilized and implanted and - here we are! With me turning down some of the finest wine in the galaxy." Vuche laughed.

"That's how we got an invite to this cruise," Jahtee continued, "JaVuBe's a top trader in the Lambda Sector. I guess the Empire's fine with non-humans when they turn a profit..." the Empire's distaste for non-humans was reflected at every level. It hit on a source of division that had lasted down the millennia. Even Imperial worlds that had almost entirely non-human populations, such as Secundus Ando, the home of the indigenous Harch, were assigned Human governors, often from distant Core Worlds. Secundus Ando's Governor, Loisi Ramoran, was one such human. She hailed from the Imperial Government Academy on Corulag, from a life of privilege, and expressed little interest in local matters. She was interested in turning Secundus Ando into a model Imperial world and little else. She held a council of local Harch politicians who expressed loyalty to the Empire, and let them take care of mundane tasks while she expanded military production to become the main industry on the planet.

To achieve this, she'd played up old rivalries in the sector. She'd been clever with her propaganda. The Lambda Sector had aligned with the Separatist Alliance in the Clone Wars, so she downplayed the role of the Empire as a continuation of the Republic, casting themselves as opposed to its ways. In other parts of the Galaxy, particularly the Core Worlds that had most prospered under the Republic, the Empire was presented as nothing more than a more militarized Republic, and the only way to protect the Core Worlders from a dangerous galaxy. It was working wonders for the Empire.

Three years past, a fleet of warships gathered from across the sector had been destroyed in battle with an Imperial fleet. This act of Rebellion was rumoured to have been instigated by the Empire themselves, to present a scapegoat and introduce a danger that the sector's populace would want to defend themselves from. This rebel cell, the propaganda had informed, sought to restore the Republic's oppression of the Sector. Bitter tensions from decades ago, during a Republic-enforced demilitarisation of the Sector, had driven the Harch and Aqualish of the sector to align with the Separatists, so the casting of any attempts to resist the Empire as Republic sympathisers had caused a wave of patriotism to sweep over the worlds. Military production had risen dramatically. Similar stories could be found all over the galaxy. Through manipulation, propaganda, or threat, the Empire intended to turn every citizen into a cog in its mighty war machine. It was a dire circumstance indeed.

***

The great cruise ship had dropped out of hyperspace for a few hours of sightseeing. Icy comets gleamed and glittered in the light of the huge, distant blue sun. Hikaarni, now eight years old, pressed her little red face against the window. 

"Mum, look, look!" She pointed excitedly as a small comet splattered into a larger one, sending a shower of vapour into space, which solidified instantly in a glittering icy shower. Chirangi's love of the distant parts of the galaxy had been passed on to her daughter, who had always asked her to read about them in picture books when she was younger. She'd accompanied Chirangi on some of the safer missions her work with the Welfare Corps had brought her on. Chirangi hoped that her lessons on why her work was so important had sunk in between their sightseeings.

Oh, but what sights they had seen together. The vast canyons of Ryloth, the misty forests of Kashyyyk, the great snowy peaks of Triniyath...sharing them with her wonderful daughter had made all these experiences even more beautiful.

Jeshka held Katon's hand as he wandered away from the window toward the group of other children he had been playing with a minute before. The Harch trader who worked for JaVuBe freight and oversaw their operations in the Lambda Sector chuckled as Katon joined the play of his two Harchlings.

"An inquisitive young lad..." he clicked, "that's good. People skills got me where I am today. It's never too early to start thinking about your career skills."

"Isn't it?" replied Jeshka. "Maybe so, but it's never too late to let yourself do what you enjoy, either. Business and pleasure must go hand in hand."  
  
"Yes, and that's why I make business my pleasure! I believe you know what I mean, Mrs. Nuskell. Your work at Alderaan Welfare's headquarters must be very difficult, what with, ah...the circumstances..."

"It is, at times, but it's got to be done. If the Empire won't help these people, someone else has to pick up the slack. I take no pleasure in the work itself, but it warms my heart to know I'm doing the right thing."

"Noble, indeed. Your children are in good hands. They couldn't hope for better caretakers."

"Parents, not caretakers. Adoption doesn't make them any less our own."  
  
"Ah, so says the Mandalorian. Forgive me, I must respect our differences here."  
  
Jeshka was about to press him further, but Chirangi returned to her side with Hikaarni. "Hello, Mr. Rams! And hello there, children!" Mr. Rams' Harchlings clicked excitedly at Chirangi. "We're going back into hyperspace soon, I hear. Our next stop's the moons of Hilax, then after that it's off to Rintonne for a layover. The Governor's making her speech tomorrow on the way back to Secundus Ando."

***

Dinner was served at a designated hour in the great dining hall at the ship's centre. The ceiling was transparent, and the great white curve of gas giant Hilax was as the ship weaved its way through the system's moons. A specially arranged Harch orchestra played a symphony dedicated to the moons, that would last the exact length of their journey and the dinner. The route was arranged so that each moon would be in view as its particular part was played.

The guests at dinner were mostly Harch and Aqualish, and accordingly, the choice of dishes consisted mostly of fish and arthropods. A couple of galactic standards were also available, such as nerf-steaks and non-meaty dishes for any herbivorous guests. Jeshka had opted for one of the latter for her starter, a slab of cooked beans with a mix of roasted vegetables that was a traditional dish from the herbivorous Usgaran people, which now formed a staple of many vegetation-rich diets galaxywide due to the ability of the ingredients to be grown in almost any soil.  Belka had only been able to choose one dish, so she picked the largest, an enormous shellfish with sixteen thick limbs, while Mr. Rams' family had chosen insect-based Harch dishes. 

Katon picked at his starter dish. He had been historically pretty adventurous with his food, but different situations made his appetite shrink. Chirangi helped him by forking a little of the cheesy dish onto her own plate. Hikaarni, meanwhile, had always eaten the same couple of foods. Jeshka and Chirangi had had some trouble with this in their early parentage. Jeshka had always been used to eating whatever was available, and Chirangi had always desired to experience many different things, so it came as a surprise when their daughter had gotten upset at most of the food they presented her with. A doctor had notified them that Hikaarni had a sensory and stimulation need that meant she couldn't always eat foods outside of a particular set of textures and feels. Starting when Hikaarni was about four, Jeshka and Chirangi worked with their young daughter and the doctor to identify the foods that she liked, and ensure that she met all her dietary requirements. Alder-Espirion physiology was very close to human in most respects, so they'd worked out a diet plan for the family that ensured Hikaarni would always be able to eat healthily and also ease the pressure on Chirangi and Jeshka to cook. 

Hikaarni preferred the feel of soft foods, so she ate a dish of mashed up planters with cheese for her starter. For the main she'd ordered a vegetable soup with some bread. Chirangi had also ordered the same - Hikaarni liked to eat the same thing as at least one of her parents. Jeshka had gone for local cuisine, a pair of pyra-fish steaks, seared, marinaded and served with citrus juice on a bed of vegetables. 

 "Mhm, Auntie Vuche's going to have a baby!" Belka informed Katon happily. 

"Will it be a....red baby? Or a blue baby? Will it be like auntie Vuche or auntie Belka?" Katon inquired.

"Much more like auntie Vuche. It'll have horns like her, when it grows older.

"Wow..." Katon said, impressed. Katon had had no memory of his birth parents. Jeshka and Chirangi had explained about adoption as soon as he was old enough to ask why he looked different from his mums, but the same as his sister. Hikaarni only dimly remembered her birth parents, but still cried about them sometimes. She loved her mums deeply but she was sad that she would never meet her old parents again. 

 Hikaarni talked with Mr. Rams' eldest son, Tykre, who was 2 years older than her. The topic of growing up was on his mind.

"I want to fly a spaceship, like Jahtee," he clicked. "I'm going to work for dad and fly over the whole galaxy. I can't wait to grow up so I can start. What do you want to do when you grow up?"

"Hmm..." Hikaarni said, gripping her sleeves as she thought, "I don't know yet...I love seeing places and things. So I want to keep doing that, I guess. Maybe you could fly me there."  
  
"Of course! I'll fly anyone, anywhere. It doesn't matter to me as long as I get to be in the driver's seat," he said. Hikaarni giggled.

"Ooh, mum, listen! The music's changed!" Hikaarni bounced excitedly in her seat. "We're gonna see another moon!"

"Which one is it this time?" Jeshka asked. She trusted Hikaarni's musical judgement more than her own. Jeshka had a passable skill at a couple of drum instruments, but Hikaarni seemed to be born for music. She was in a children's orchestra on Alderaan and had mastered a plethora of instruments of many types. She played the Espirla best of all, a string instrument from Espirion that was her specialty in the orchestra. Jeshka thought its deep melody elevated the whole string section. Chirangi, who had an ear for these things almost as good as Hikaarni's, agreed. 

"It's...Homat. The volcano moon. You'll like this part, mum," she said, but didn't elaborate why. Sure enough, the dark form of Homat appeared over the ship, its surface a patchwork of bright lava flows. As the music built, Hikaarni's hands repeatedly opened and closed, and brushed rapidly over the table. This was a sure sign of Hikaarni's gleeful excitement. The reason for Hikaarni's assertion that this would be a part Jeshka would like revealed itself as Hikaarni's hands sped up. A low rumbling drumbeat filled the hall. Jeshka smiled at Hikaarni.

"You're right, I love it!" She rubbed Hikaarni's back with her left hand. 

Their main courses arrived just as Homat disappeared from view. Belka's enormous shellfish dish rolled up on a special cart, and the Harch waiter used all six of her arms to transport it in front of Belka. Belka licked her lips and dug in as Vuche talked with Katon and Chirangi.

"Katon's just gone into his first year at school now," Chirangi said, "last time we met you I think we were just starting to choose which one was right for him."  
  
"Ah, yeah, I remember! Did you end up sending him to Apuan Memorial with Hikaarni?" 

"Yeah!" Katon chimed in, "but sis goes to a different part."

"Which part's that?" Vuche asked.

"Uh, she goes to the little bit. I go to the big bit with the others."  
  
"Hikaarni's part of the arts school," Chirangi explained. "We put her in general education for her first year but the teachers said she would rather be in the arts section, so we transferred her there. Katon's in the general education section for now."

"I know it's not even born yet, but tell the truth, I'm already scouting out schools for our little one. The schools on Alderaan are mostly pretty free from Imperial influence," Vuche said quietly, casting her eyes around. Imperial stormtroopers, who had gradually replaced the Clone army, stood guard even here while they ate dinner, "but on Coruscant it's getting harder and harder to find schools that aren't just factories for churning out stormtroopers," Vuche glowered. It was true that military academies were the Empire's preferred education. Even children as young as Katon weren't free. "We looked at a couple systems in the Core, like Hosnian or Bar'leth, just to be closer to our business, but we're probably going to relocate to the Expansion Region, maybe Shili or Kiros, or somewhere further out the way like Elrait. I hear there's a private school on Elrait, ten thousand students from all over the galaxy, all built into a glacier valley. I've only seen holos of it, but it looks beautiful."

"We're saving up for whatever we choose now," Belka said, cracking open a shellfish leg. "We'll hopefully have enough to send the kid to school and keep a little to live on."  
  
"So, you're gonna quit running JaVuBe?" 

"Well, the two of us are. We talked it over with Jahtee, and they supported our decision. Jahtee's never been the, uh, marrying type, so they'll keep it going in our absence," Vuche explained as Belka tipped back the leg and began chewing on the meat within.

Jahtee was the de facto head of JaVuBe, and took a great joy in their business. They could definitely be trusted to keep the company going.

"Well, wherever you end up, I'll see if we can pay a visit sometime."

***

 The floating hotel looked out over the ocean of Rintonne. Behind was a marina complex that was anchored to the sea floor and served as the base point for a number of other floating facilities, that were attached to the main complex by powerful tractor beam generators, and linked by flexible walkways.

Their sumptuous room boasted a large double bed for the parents, and two singles for the children. Hikaarni had been overjoyed at the soft sheets on her bed, which brought happiness to her parents. Travel had left the family tired, so they were in bed not too late. 

Before bedtime, Chirangi switched on the holo-projector in the room and assisted Hikaarni in choosing a musical accompaniment. Together, the family sat on the large double bed as Hikaarni's favourite holo-tour of Mirial played to the accompaniment of some contemporary Mirialan pop music. As the holo came to a close, Katon was already asleep and Hikaarni was drifting off. The parents tucked in the kids, Jeshka stroking Hikaarni's white hair as she closed her eyes and drew the covers up tight, before heading to their own bed. Chirangi spooned Jeshka and they faced toward the window, and together, with the window open a crack to let in some of the sea air, they fell asleep.

***

 "...and thanks to the generous assistance of the Emperor, Secundus Aldo's burgeoning munitions and mining industry has driven down unemployment twenty percent," continued Governor Ramoran, another dry statistic in a long line of others. This speech had only lasted ten minutes so far, but it felt like hours. Katon stifled a yawn as Hikaarni rocked back and forth in her chair and ran her hands up and down her soft skirt. This was a sure sign that she was under-stimulated, understandable given the circumstances. Chirangi, seated on Hikaarni's right, glowered at an elderly human Imperial official who had been tutting scornfully at Hikaarni. Rows of chairs faced a grand stage where Governor Ramoran stood alongside her Harch cronies, the Council who were the friendly face of Imperial oppression on Secundus Aldo. The Imperial woman finally hissed at Hikaarni, "sit still, child! Show some respect!"

Hikaarni ignored her, and Chirangi leaned over and whispered, "my daughter's under-stimulated, she needs to do something to relieve it. I can swap places if it's bothering you,"

"What's bothering me is your lack of proper parenting! What kind of mother lets her daughter show disrespect like that, and to a Governor!"

"Uh, sorry, I'll just - here, I'll swap with her." Chirangi rubbed Hikaarni's shoulder gently to get her attention and indicated they should swap. She also pulled out a pair of earbuds for Hikaarni to listen to music on from her datapad, which she did gladly. The speech finally looked to be coming to a close, thankfully.

"...for closing remarks, I'd like to invite to the stage Admiral Te, who led the Imperial Fleet to victory against insurgents in the Lambda Sector three years ago." A tanned, white-bearded male human took to the stage and the hall filled with a mix of applause and clicking noises, which were the Harch equivalent. Admiral Te and the Governor saluted one another, before she stepped aside and let him stand where she had been.

"Thank you, Governor Ramoran, for that...comprehensive report. Now, I'd just like to say a couple of words about a subject very dear to me. The Empire. As you know I defended the Empire honourably three years ago by thwarting the renegade militia fleet that threatened to restore the tyranny of the Republic in the sector," a murmur of discontent filled the hall, "and it was my honour as well as my duty to do so. But now I look around this great Empire of ours, and I see more and more insidious elements who seek to sow chaos again throughout the galaxy. Just last month, Imperial agents uncovered a cell operating out of the Outer Rim, who had planned to stage a terrorist attack on the Emperor's own home world of Naboo! They would end innocent lives for no other reason than association with our benevolent leader, who ended the Republic and brought peace. So I ask you all to be vigilant, and do not hesitate to report enemies of the Empire's peace to your local authorities." He saluted once and strode stiffly off the stage.

The assembled guests started to file out of the hall and prepare to depart the ship. Conversation bubbled up, much of it discussion of the rumoured rebellion that was rising against the Empire. 

Chirangi met up with Jeshka, who had been seated a little further down the line and was talking with Jahtee, Belka and Vuche.

"Everyone's talking like there's some giant terrorist conspiracy across the whole galaxy, but I've not seen anything like that yet," Belka said. "There's been a few attempts at local insurrections, like here or on Mon Cala, but nothing that far ranging. Sounds like a bunch of propaganda to me to get people spying on their neighbours."

"Yes, it is that," Jahtee said, "but I think there's at least a little substance to it." They cast their wide eyes around for anyone who might be listening in before whispering, "there was a job some of our pilots took to Ord Atareen, a few months back, that got flagged up pretty quick by the authorities. When I went to the port commander to sort it out, I overheard her talking with a fleet officer about some coordinated raids on Imperial convoys, all over the galaxy, usually on prisoner transports. They seemed pretty concerned about it, and it must have taken more than just a little local trouble to get that sort of reach."

"Huh," Jeshka said, "well, if there's anyone out there really trying to take on the Empire, I wish them luck. They'll need more than just hearts of kyber to pull off any sort of win, they'll need weapons and ships, things the Empire keeps too tight a grip on to -" Jeshka silenced herself quickly. She was used to being able to talk politics pretty freely on Alderaan, but she had to be more careful in places like this.

Chirangi looked down at her children. She, too, wished anyone rebelling against the Empire luck. It seemed an impossible task, but if the Empire was to fall and the galaxy be brought freedom and peace - real peace, not just repression - then someone needed to take a stand. But deep down, she hoped that her children wouldn't have to be those someones.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belka and Vuche settle in to their new life on Elrait with their baby. The family on Alderaan celebrate Hikaarni's 9th birthday.

Winter was fast closing in already. The serene glacier-carved valley's peaks were covered in snow and the needled trees were bowing under the weight of it. At the other end of the valley, just within sight, the multi-leveled Academy building glowed warmly, illuminated by soft lighting that revealed its huge rounded main building and the platforms that stuck out at several angles underneath it, like lilypads or fungus on a tree. The valley was the centre of the small civilization on Elrait, the world's only spaceport located in the largest city just a few kilometers away from the Academy. Around 50,000 inhabitants worked and lived in the main city, the same again in various towns and villages that spanned the valley's height and length.   
  
With the modest savings from their time at JaVuBe freight, Vuche and Belka had managed to pay in advance for the education of the baby that was swaddled up in a soft blanket and lay peacefully sleeping, pressed against her mother Vuche's chest. The baby, Onnon, had bright golden-tan skin, her two hearts beating gently in time with her mother's. At this young age, only her bright purple eyes - inherited from her mother - would distinguish her from a human at a glance. Later in life, she would sprout horns and, if she so wished, take up the traditional facial tattoos that were a mark of adulthood to a Zabrak. 

Belka walked in to the wood-paneled kitchen with two mugs of warm milk. The stress of separating from their jobs and moving here, not to mention raising a Zabrak baby, had worn them out a little, so they'd forgone all caffeinated drinks in favour of more soporific ones, so as to get the best rest where they could. Neither of them would have to work for at least a few years - there was just enough left after tuition fees and buying this little house to provide for a little while of simple living. They couldn't ask for anything more.

Onnon predictably woke up during the night and cried out with hunger. Vuche stirred drowsily and propped herself up on one arm, blowing her hair out of her face. She'd kept her hair no longer than a buzz over most of her head until now, but during her pregnancy she'd grown it out a little. Might as well go all in on the life changes. She scooped up the crying infant, who was reaching out with her arms and legs and batting around randomly, holding her against her chest and shushing gently. She stood and walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen as Belka began to drift awake behind her. Vuche smiled wearily at her wife as she sat on the sofa, Belka rubbing her eyes as she walked into the room. "Morning, sweetie," Vuche said drolly. Her dressing gown was opened and Onnon suckled on her breast. Belka knew that she wasn't going to get back to sleep tonight, so she sat down next to her wife and child, putting her arm around Vuche's shoulder and kissing her once on the lips. Then she turned her eyes to Onnon and held out her finger near the baby's little hand, which swung around until eventually it latched on to her mother's pale blue finger. The parents nestled their heads together and drifted in and out of restfulness until the distant white sun rose over the valley.

***

 The fateful day was tomorrow. It had been scheduled for months. Hikaarni was turning nine, according to the birthdate listed on her adoption record, but this was the first time such a day was to be celebrated with a party. Hikaarni got along well with a number of kids at school, but she also needed to stick strictly to a routine. Her friends were at school, her family was at home, and it was going to need some preparation to bring the two together. The preparation had begun with a visit by Jeshka, Chirangi and Katon to Hikaarni's after-school orchestra practice, where they met her friends for the first time. Hikaarni had adapted reasonably well to the change in her comfort zone, a good sign, so the family had visited the practice again once a week until the party. They'd got to know others in the orchestra that would be coming to the party by talking to them after practice. There were six kids who'd be coming to the party, four humans from Alderaan, one near-human and one non-human, a refugee from Duro. These were her closest friends, the one she felt most comfortable around, and the ones she often talked excitedly about to her parents when she was at home.

 As night fell over the little house, Jeshka made the final adjustments on the display screen that tracked the family's daily schedule, setting it up ready for tomorrow's party. The kids were already in bed. Hikaarni had tired herself out with excitement at tomorrow, and fallen asleep even before Jeshka had finished reading with her. Katon had drifted off not long after. Jeshka looked at the front door and saw it was slightly ajar, a cool breeze blowing in from outside. Jeshka poked her head out and saw Chirangi crouching next to the big shousaberry bush, her skirt neatly folded under her knees. She stepped out to meet with her. 

Chirangi looked up, a little blue juice around her mouth. "Midnight snack, love?" Jeshka asked.

"Something like that," Chirangi said, standing up. The bush had provided them with delicious berries for years. It was as dependable as a friend. Jeshka reached out and wiped the juice from Chirangi's beautiful lips. They embraced one another and kissed, and held each other's hands. Together they looked out over the lakefront. The night was dark without a moon.

***

 A couple of the other parents from the village were gathered at Belka and Vuche's house with their children. The community here was very pleasant - most who came here had chosen to do so to avoid the eye of the Empire like Belka and Vuche, so they could talk quite freely, at least for now. Even planets throughout the Mid Rim and the Colonies, that had until recently been left to their devices, were more and more brought into Imperial conformity. The Expansion Region could be dangerous, many of its worlds outside the main trade spines were lawless or wild, and those within more mainstream society were increasingly under the Emperor's influence. Elrait struck a happy medium, and had enough wealth to stave off the Empire in the long term, or at least as much as anything could be guaranteed in turbulent times.

In the living room sat four couples with six children between them. Belka and Vuche were cuddled up on the sofa next to the Pa'lowick couple, Jan and Muts Ooreema. On the other sofa, two Thramuine, a near-human species from a Core World nebula that had orange skin, pointed ears and bright yellow hair, with solid green eyes, held their hands on each other's knees. These were Macklin and Tangey Morrid. Next to them was a human and Pantoran pair, the human woman named Exult Karr and her Pantoran husband named Achuss Karr. The six young children sat or lay on the carpet, under the watchful eye of their parents as they talked.

"Can't have been easy running a business in the Empire with three non-humans," Exult said, surprised at Belka and Vuche's former occupation. 

"Yeah, it lead to some trouble alright. I even had to file these down," Vuche said, pointing at her horns, which were slowly but surely returning to their former fierce state. 

"Jahtee keeps us updated on what's going on. They've taken on a board of directors now - even the Empire can't keep Jahtee from doing a good job it seems. But they had to meet a quota of Imperial business graduates, some ridiculous number like forty percent, so it's actually been almost as much a hindrance as a help. The Imperial way of doing business is so top down. We ran it as a co-operative when we were there - we managed to guarantee all our employees some basic needs through that, like accomodation if they needed it, education for their kids at a non-Imperial school, through some legal loop-holing, but they've had to abandon that since these new Imperial directors came on. The Empire's just not as forgiving of people doing the right thing as it was when we started," Belka sighed. It broke her heart to see the expression on Jahtee's face every time they had to report on another right stripped away from the workers of JaVuBe that they had fought so hard for. 

Exult was a pale-skinned woman who had grown up in the Hosnian system. She had a couple of noticeable cybernetic mods, including a cranial headset that allowed her vision and hearing. Without it she would only hear ringing, and only see a blur. JaVuBe had paid for several sets just like it as part of their benefit program. That would all be scrapped now. She'd met her husband on Hosnian Prime and they'd given birth to their son there before moving out here. Achuss Karr had been a parts designer for a major droid manufacturer, which allowed them enough wealth to pay for their life out here. 

"It's a hard galaxy out there..." said Jan Ooreema as his wife picked up their snuffling baby from the floor. Jan and Muts had been resettled by a charitable organisation, not away from the Empire, but from the Hutt Cartels, who were just as dangerous. 

"And getting harder," Tangey Morrid continued. "When the Republic was in power all worlds, from the Core to the Outer Rim, got representation. Now democracy is a sham, the only word that matters is the Emperor's. It makes me sick." Macklin and Tangey had worked for the charity that resettled Jan and Muts, along with millions of other people living in dangerous situations all over the galaxy. They lived in the spaceport town and still did work for the charity, working for no profit out of a small office in the spaceport's main building. They had enough to provide for their three children, the oldest of whom was now four years old, but no more. 

 Onnon lay stomach-down on the floor. The eldest child of the Morrids shook a soft toy in front of her which jingled and flashed as it was shaken. Onnon giggled and reached out to try and bat it. The small, wheeled nanny droid that the Karrs had brought trundled around, tending to each baby's needs. Vuche and Belka couldn't afford anything quite that extravagant on their limited budget. There were times when they wished they could, after a near-sleepless night when neither of them could figure out why Onnon was crying, but the organic touch did the trick most of the time. 

A while later, Belka poured out some hot spiced tea for the guests. They'd skip the warm milk for just now, though both Belka and her wife were getting a taste for it. 

 "Thanks," said Macklin as Belka handed him the tea. He and Vuche had been talking about the circumstances of Vuche and Belka's marriage."  
  
"So, how did you decide to take Vuche's surname?" He asked Belka.   
  
"Oh, it was an aesthetic choice really. Vuche Vunn just doesn't flow quite so well as Belka Runkeeng. Simple as that!"

The chatter continued into the night. The married couple were adjusting quite well to life here.

***

The birthday party was winding to a close. Hikaarni didn't mind loud noises, but a couple of times she got overstimulated and had to take a short break off by herself in her room. The kids played and ran around in the living room while Chirangi took out the large present she and Jeshka had bought her. The time for unwrapping had come near.

Jeshka gently rapped on Hikaarni's door. No reply, she probably had headphones in. She opened the door a crack and waved her hand to let Hikaarni know she was entering.

"Hi mum!" Hikaarni said, jumping off her bed and pulling out her headphones. 

"We're just getting ready for you to open the presents. Do you want to come out now?"

Hikaarni nodded vigorously and opened and closed her hands. She ran out the door to the dining table, where the other children sat assembled around a large shousaberry cake that Jeshka and Chirangi had baked specially. A small holo-projector was embedded in the cake, displaying a spinning Aurebesh number 9. Hikaarni sat up in the chair which had been pulled out at the head of the table, and scooted it in. Her hands brushed rapidly over the tablecloth and down over her skirt while her knee bounced. Jeshka smiled, knowing her daughter was bursting with positive anticipation.   
  
She first unwrapped the assorted gifts from her school friends. A couple of music recordings, a new wooden toy starship, and a holobook about the Mid Rim. She thanked each friend profusely for their gift. Finally, the time came for her to tear the paper off the large gift from Chirangi and Jeshka.

Hikaarni gaped as she revealed the set of exquisite wooden Mirial drums before her. "Happy Birthday sweetie!" her mothers said simultaneously. Hikaarni began to tear up. Chirangi rubbed her shoulder and Hikaarni reached out to hug her tightly.   
  
"Th-th-thanks m-m-mum," she sobbed, "I love y-you."

"Aw, I love you too, sweetie," Chirangi said, a lump forming in her throat. Jeshka felt emotion overwhelm her too. It had been easy enough to figure out what Hikaarni most wanted for her gift, but more difficult to source it. She'd had it specially made by a Mirialan artisan at quite some expense. It had been worth every credit to see Hikaarni so happy.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jahtee is called out to Mykapo, where they make contact with what will soon become the Rebel Alliance. Jeshka and Chirangi take their children, now aged 14 and 11, to visit Mirial. Onnon Runkeeng starts school on Elrait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used "M." as a gender-neutral title similar to "Mr." or "Mrs." This idea is taken from Dan Simmons' Hyperion.

Jahtee braced themself for what would surely be another hostile meeting in the boardroom. The board of directors was divided into factionalism, one staunchly pro-Imperial, the other wanting to return JaVuBe to the old ways of the co-operative.

They adjusted the sleeves on their formal Rodian outfit, tight-fitting and dark, before stepping through a sleek door to the boardroom.

An hour or so of the usual profit and expenditure discussions followed, more civil than usual, but punctuated by a shouting match between some of the directors over relief and aid expenses. The final order of business was one that was the most interesting to Jahtee.

"We got a communication from Mykapo yesterday, from the head of a cybers conglomerate there. Big company, very good standing, but...he wanted to meet with you, personally, M. Tosha," reported Cotterri DeVoba, the Director of Communications and the unofficial head of the company's Imperial sympathizers.

Jahtee was surprised. "Not with one of our reps? What could I do that any of them couldn't?"

"I'm not sure, but he was very clear about it. A contract with his company could be very lucrative for us, and he will not proceed without first meeting you in person. If you wish to accept," Cotteri said, with a stern look in her eyes that suggested Jahtee had little choice in the matter, "then I have prepared a shuttle for you that will depart this evening."

Jahtee pondered a second, but really there was only one way this was going. "Alright, I'll meet this conglomerate fellow. I'll be back when we've got a deal." With that, the board disbanded, and Jahtee headed to the docks.

***

The winds of the desert on Mirial played a music all of their own. From here at the source it was easy to appreciate all the natural and spiritual influences that went into the music of the world and its culture. The low whine of the wind as it whipped around the rock formations suggested the baying of the Mirial flute, and the crackle of distant dry lightning keened like the shrill sounds of the koila harp. And everywhere, the thrumming of life in the village breathed the sound of the drum, its inhalations and exhalations rising and falling like a living being.

Hikaarni raced through the market stall. Piles of colourful fruits and spices stretched up as tall as Jeshka's head, and hundreds upon hundreds of Mirialans and offworlders mingled, haggled and plied their trade. 

Katon looked inquisitively at a trinket stand. Among its wares were the traditional needles still used by many Mirialans to create their geometric tattoos. These tattoos held great ritual significance to Mirialan peoples. Katon marveled at the needles and the old man who stood behind the stand smiled at him. 

"You are Espirion, no? Your people also have a tradition of tattooing, if I recall."

"I am, but I'm Alderaanian, and Mandalorian too," Katon replied. "I do want to get some tattoos when I'm older, though."

"Ah, very wise. Do not abandon your heritage, child. Any of them. They inform you, help you make difficult decisions," the old man said. He pointed to a long line of square tattoos that ran down his bare, wrinkled arm. "These are my ancestors, going back thousands of years. I will not forget them, just as I hope that my children and grandchildren do not forget me. They guide my hand," he said, pointing to his hand where the line continued, branching off into five strands, one for each digit, "and show me the way. They have not failed me yet."

"My mothers adopted me...does that mean I'm not Alder-Espirion anymore? Am I just a Mandalorian?"

"Of course not. Your ancestry is in your heart, not just your genes. Alderaan, Espirion, Mandalore, some of each of them is within you. You would do well to honour your family, both your adoptive and birth family that is."  
  
Katon looked resolute as Jeshka and Chirangi caught up with him. "Don't go running off so far!" Chirangi scalded. "We couldn't see you anywhere!"

The old man smiled at Katon again. The family moved away from the stall, but the old man's words stuck with Katon.

***

 Belka released Onnon from her hug, still kneeling down beside her. Onnon's little golden face had been lit up with excitement for months leading up to today, but she had almost cried with nerves when the day itself came. But, her parents had managed to bring her to school, her little backpack containing her school supplies on her back. Now it was Belka and Vuche's turn to get emotional as Onnon skipped toward the gates of the primary education center, at the lower levels of Elrait Academy.

***

The courtyard of the ancient temple was covered by small gardens of stones. Each garden was tended by a single monk, and each day at sunrise and sunset the monks would sift through the sands that had blown over the walls in the night and arrange them into a perfect geometric pattern in line with the stone gardens, then the whole pattern would disappear during the day. It reminded the monks that though some things would stay the same (the stone gardens) others would change (the sands) and the only way to live was to adapt. 

The monks were not quite spiritual in the same way as the Jedi had been, the Mirialan tour guide explained. Though a great many Mirialans had joined the Jedi Order over the years, and kept their strong tradition alive through training one another in turn, there was more than one way of the Force. The Force was in everything, not just those who could wield the abilities it could bestow upon some. In every living thing and every grain of sand. These monks tended to such things, letting the Force guide their lives.

In the evening, before the monks realigned their stone gardens to the next day's pattern (the patterns were kept to a strict schedule, which was etched into the sleeping cell of every monk), they gathered in the main hall for their daily ritual drumming. This was an unpracticed, unsynchronised and collaborative effort. Each day's drumming was unique.

Hikaarni bounced eagerly on the bench as the drumming began. She'd done similar jams as a stimulating activity. She usually liked routine, but there were a couple of times she preferred to just let the moment take her, and for those times she favoured the elegant drum her parents had bought for her five years ago. She was almost as proficient with it as with her trusty Espirla by now.

The drums echoed throughout the night, the chill alleviated by a warm fire in a pit between the tourist audience and the drummers. 

***

 Stars streaked past the shuttle viewport before solidifying into bright pinpricks as the shuttle dropped out of hyperspace. Just as it did, Jahtee's holo-communicator beeped. They froze when they saw the frequency.

"Sorry, I'm going to have to take this," they said to the Imperial assigned pilot that had flown them to Mykapo, "it's, uh, an important business call." The pilot, an olive-skinned woman with frizzy coppery hair and dark green eyes, nodded wordlessly in acknowledgement. Jahtee stepped into the cargo bay of the ship to take the transmission.

They clicked the holo-comm's button and the familiar symbol of Jahtee's intel contact, Fulcrum, appeared and span slowly in the air.

"M. Tosha, I see you've made it to Mykapo. In a few minutes your pilot will be diverted to the orbital Mura Station, this is part of our plan. When you are on board, seek out Jun Sato. Your conglomerate contact will know how to find him. Fulcrum out."

Jahtee swallowed. Fulcrum had first contacted them five years ago, after they'd personally undertaken a dangerous relief mission in the aftermath of an insurrection on Beshamath Minor. Fulcrum was the centre of an emerging intelligence network that sought to bring together the nascent rebel cells under one banner. Whoever Fulcrum was, they had been too late to save the Beshamath rebellion, but access to JaVuBe's trade network had expanded their intelligence considerably. They'd contacted Jahtee only rarely, and personally, since then, and they'd worked together to provide secret supplies under the Empire's nose, through seemingly legitimate channels that the directors wouldn't notice.

Jahtee returned to the cockpit, and sure enough, a voice came over the comm from Mykapo control informing them that they would be diverted to Mura Station due to asteroid activity. 

The shuttle docked on the dingy, under-maintained station. A few travelers who wished to go to the surface slept on rough benches, awaiting the time when they could leave the station. Even on this remote station there were Imperial stormtroopers and security officers stationed, watching over everyone, making sure they didn't forget who ruled. 

Jahtee showed their clearance card to the helmeted security officer that greeted them. "Please proceed to meeting room five, on the left. Have a pleasant stay," the man said briskly. A door opened and Jahtee continued into a carpeted hallway. They found meeting room five and touched the clearance card against the security lock on the door. The door slid open and revealed a few humans seated around a table. 

"Ah, M. Tosha, I presume," a man with considerable cyber-modifications said, standing up from his seat at the head of the table. He stretched out a cybernetic hand, which Jahtee shook. "My name is Koda Wa. I'm the head of Wa Cybernetics. We're interested in a trade deal. But also," he said, nodding at a woman standing by the door, her face covered completely by a digital mask. She closed the door as Wa continued, "I think you may be interested in meeting some associates of mine."

Another door in the room slid open, revealing a pair of figures, their faces shadowed by the dim lighting in the room. Jahtee's eyes adjusted, widening to let in more light, and the shapes coalesced into-

"Jun Sato," he said, introducing himself. "This is my partner, who you may know as Fulcrum, but also goes by..."  
  
"Ahsoka Tano," she continued. "I believe we've met before. Siege of Mandalore, right?"

Jahtee's eyes widened even further. "Ahsoka! I thought you were-"

"No, I'm not dead yet. Rex saved my life back on Mandalore. He had removed the chip that caused the clones to execute the Jedi before the end of the war. He arranged it to look like we killed each other, and I escaped. I lived in a couple places for a while, until I met up with Bail Organa, and together we started work on this intel network."

Jahtee was agape. "You did all this without the Empire noticing?"

"We've had a few close calls, but yes," she smirked. "Impressive, right?"

"Very," Jahtee said. "I want in."

"That's the spirit! Now, we don't have enough force to start openly campaigning against the Empire just yet. Commander Sato here runs a small cell with access to fighters and pilots, but beyond that we're out of luck. When we, or the Empire, escalate this operation, we're going to need someone who can help us get the raw materials we need to run a rebellion."  
  
"And not just starships and weapons," Sato continued. "We need people, too. Recruits and experienced fighters, as well as agents, diplomats, accountants, pilots - anyone who can help us take down the Empire. When you are called again, we hope that you will answer."  
  
"Of course I will. I have to see the Empire fall. I've seen all the terrible things they're capable of, and heard of many more to come."

"Take this, then. It's a homing beacon and communicator, slaved to the one I have here," Ahsoka said, holding up a small device. "Wherever you are in the galaxy, I can track you, or communicate with you if need be. But it will only be activated when I know the time is right, so that you will not fall into the Empire's hands if I do."

Jahtee took the small, thin device that Ahsoka handed to them. Ahsoka and Sato walked back out of the room, as Wa chuckled and said, "well, now that that's settled, I believe we were about to make a deal."


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In 5 BBY, Jahtee and Ahsoka undertake a mission to the Corporate Sector after half of JaVuBe Freight is bought by the Wa Conglomerate, and the other half is nationalized by the Empire. The families from Alderaan and Elrait meet on Krownest, visiting Viola Nuskell.

So, that was it. Hands were shaken and display-screen briefcases closed as the deal was confirmed. Jahtee and Wa had done what they could to keep the most important parts of JaVuBe's network out of the Empire's hands, but their rights to the all-important Hydian Way franchise, as well as a cluster of branch routes that linked the Way to worlds across the inner galaxy, had had to be given up to exclusive Imperial control. The Wa Conglomerate had managed to buy out a scattered network of exclusive rights that still managed to guarantee them access to the all-important Corporate Sector. Jahtee had always held great distaste for many of the big players in the Sector, but had to concede its importance as one of the few locations in the known galaxy where the Empire still retained almost no influence.

Koda Wa clapped Jahtee on the back as Director DeVoba bowed her way out of the room, leaving them alone.

"We have done great work here today. Under Wa Cybernetics, your old company will be safe and free from Imperial influence. We've got enough connections in the Corporate sector to stave off the authorities on our hyperlanes for now. The rebellion will thank you one day."

Belka and Vuche waited out in the reception area to meet Jahtee and Koda as they exited the meeting. They didn't retain any holdings, but as founders of the company they were cordially invited to its final meeting.

"Well, it's official, JaVuBe Freight is no more. We had a good run, and thanks to Mr. Wa here, our work will continue."

Wa reached out his cybernetic hand as first Belka, then Vuche shook it. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Wa," Vuche said.

"Ah, you must be Vuche Runkeeng, and Belka Vunn - no, Belka Runkeeng. I've heard a lot about you from my partner here."

"Indeed I am," Vuche said. From behind her, Onnon stepped out and extended her own little hand. The towering Mr. Wa took notice and kneeled down next to her. "And little Onnon! I'm very pleased to meet you."

"I'm please to meet you too, Mister," Onnon said, shaking Wa's large cybernetic, "my mums've told me all about the company they used to run with Jahtee. Do you own it now?"

"Some of it. The Empire owns the rest, unfortunately. How are your studies going, little one?"

Onnon nodded enthusiastically, shaking her bobbed hair wildly. "Really good! I love my school. The teachers are really nice and they listen when I say what I need. The kids on Coruscant all say their teachers don't listen. That always makes me sad, because I want them to have good teachers that listen just like I do..."

"Ah, you have raised a good and conscientious girl here, Mrs. and Mrs. Runkeeng," Wa said, returning to standing position. "Now let's get out of here and go somewhere more fun, eh?"

***

Vuche hit the keys on the controls that brought the small shuttlecraft out of hyperspace. Mr. Wa had generously provided the ship after they departed Coruscant to visit their friends on the icy world that grew larger in the viewport ahead.

Co-piloting the ship together, with Onnon strapped into a third seat between them, Belka and Vuche guided the ship smoothly into the atmosphere and angled toward a landing port near to a frozen lake. The coordinates provided by the automated Krownest control station - there weren't many visitors to this world, thought Belka, who had experience with control systems, so there was no need for a permanent organic staff - proved useful as the landing platform was so sleekly blended into the snowy mountain landscape. It seemed as if there was no settlement around here, but if one looked close enough, the shapes of wrought steel and glass materialised from among the snowdrifts, dark peaks and evergreen trees. 

Belka yanked a lever to descend the docking ramp, and together the family stepped out onto the landing platform, but only after they pulled some thick fur coats on. Togruta and Zabraks weren't built for cold. 

An icy-blue protocol droid with a wide, flat face met them. "Welcome-to-Krownest-I-am-UZB-771-this-way-please," the droid said mechanically. This model was decades obsolete, and even in its prime it had been notorious for missing vital contexts, bad translations, or inaccurate conveyances of meaning, not to mention an infamously agitated personality program. Most had been scrapped shortly after production, but Belka noticed the restraining bolt planted on its chest, which restricted its functions to flat welcome greetings like this one. 

It turned and clanked away. The family followed, one of Onnon's mittened hands in each of her parents'. The arrivals area was deserted except for a vendor service droid and a few organic forms seated on a bench, one of whom stood and ran over as they entered.

"Hey! You made it! Good journey?" Jeshka asked.

"Oh, not bad. Little boring, but we got here eventually," Belka informed.

Chirangi and her children walked up behind Jeshka, followed by Viola, who clanked over on slow, stiff cybernetic legs.

A variety of hugs and greetings were exchanged, and the group exited the port, seating themselves in Viola's canopied speeder. Viola drove the speeder off towards the town.

A short while later, they sat in front of the floor-to-ceiling window that looked out over a vast frigid lake. Just visible on the horizon was the other edge of the lake, bordered by mountains, where the Clan Wren household stood hidden among the landscape. Ursa Wren was also paying a visit from across the lake to her old friend Viola, as she often did.

Hikaarni was just about the same age as Ursa's daughter, Sabine, but Ursa had lost contact with her after she left the Imperial Academy on Mandalore. Their parting had not been on good terms. 

Hikaarni played with her young "cousin" Onnon as Viola talked with Belka and Vuche. Katon was off in the kitchen, on his datapad, ignoring the group. 

"Yeah, it's only thanks to Ursa I managed to get these," she said, indicating her legs. "I had a fall last year and broke them - my bones were always brittle, you see - and at my age that meant I wouldn't be able to walk again. It was a drastic solution, but the only one we could afford to get for me without involving the Imperial healthcare..." people had a tendency to die or disappear under mysterious circumstances in the main Imperial hospitals on Mandalore. Those who didn't were handed extortionate bills if they couldn't get their treatment covered by insurance, which was often. These bills essentially made the poorest people indebted to the Empire for life, and was one of the weapons levied against them to coerce them into fighting for the Empire. Conscripted service in an Infantry corps was often the only option to clear a debt to the Empire, but it was one that brought considerable danger itself. Many lost their lives or their livelihoods before their debt could be cleared.

"That's sick..." Vuche said, genuinely disgusted. "You had to amputate your legs just because the Empire didn't care if you could walk."

"Yep, that's the long and short of it," Viola laughed. "An old pile of bones like me can't fight or build weapons, so the Empire doesn't mind if I live or die."

This was the situation the Galaxy over. It was a no-win game in the Empire. All roads lead back to obedience, or punishment. 

***

The Corellian corvette was in deep space. There were no stars for parsecs around. This spot was just off a hyperspace route, but it was still difficult to reach, as it never been fully blazed back in the days when the route was first laid, eons ago in the age when the Republic was still young. 

Jahtee paced up and down the white hallway of the corvette, called the  _Comet,_ as uniformed fleet troopers rushed to and from their various duties. The ship had seen combat before, having to run Imperial blockades under fire and evade pursuing Imperial fighters in order to undertake its mission of freedom. 

They were waiting for the arrival of a small vessel, an "Ugly" Freighter cribbed together from various parts of old Corellian starships called the  _Pioneer,_ which had served as a useful inconspicuous transport for Fulcrum and other agents in missions outside Imperial space. Jahtee glanced out of the viewport just as the  _Pioneer_ dropped out of hyperspace ahead. It was shaped like a three-pronged star, radially symmetrical. A rounded command pod jutted out from the "bottom" of the ship. Its three wings folded over the pod as the ship came in to dock with the  _Comet._

In the airlock, Jahtee and the ship's captain, a Bothan man, stood by with an honour guard of troopers as Fulcrum, aka Ahsoka Tano, stepped into the ship. She shook the captain's hand.

"Good to see you again, Captain Ru'falo. Now, Jahtee, are you ready?"  
  
Jahtee nodded, and together with Ahsoka, they stepped into the  _Pioneer's_ cramped command pod.   
  
Ahsoka settled in at the strange circular controls of the ship as Jahtee strapped into one of the two rotating passenger chairs. Ahsoka flicked a few switches and eased out of docking with the Corvette. Soon they were on their way to the Corporate Sector, to meet with one of Ahsoka's - Fulcrum's - contacts there.

The journey took hours, complicated by their starting point off the beaten track, but eventually Ahsoka pulled down on the lever that brought them out of hyperspace. A deep red gas giant loomed ahead, and smaller, but nearer, a moon lay in shadow underneath the giant's rings. That was the destination. Ahsoka guided the ship through the giant's gravity well, curving toward the space around the moon. A transmission crackled over the comm.

"Unidentified vessel, this is Ad Catastor traffic control, speaking with the authority of the Shomme Consortium and the Corporate Sector Authority. Please state your identity and business."

"This is the  _Pioneer,_ independent vessel. Clearance code F-S-7765329. I have an appointment on the surface tomorrow."  
  
"Clearance granted," the gruff voice replied. "Please follow the provided vector to the docking bay on the surface. Remember, you are bound by the laws of the Shomme Consortium, and the Shomme Consortium only, during your stay. These laws are backed up by the Corporate Sector Authority. Do not break them."  
  
"Alright, I won't. Following the vector now." The transmission cut off. They entered the dark atmosphere of the moon at a cruising speed, angling the wings to swoop backward as they began to encounter air resistance. The upper levels of the atmosphere were clogged with natural ash. Only at the lower levels did the air become breathable. For a while nothing was visible out of the  _Pioneer's_ viewport, but as they broke out of the upper atmosphere and the ash cleared, an immense city appeared in the gloom. In the shadow of twin volcanoes, which spewed sulphur and ash high into the atmosphere, the city was protected by a shield on one side. It stretched out across a natural mesa until it butted up against a lake, which tumbled over the edge of the mesa in a stunning waterfall.

The ship flew low over the city as it approached the spaceport. The sky was permanently dark, and the city was bathed in a glow of orange light during the designated daytime. Closer to the lake, the buildings rose high into the sky, but they shrank as the city approached the volcanoes. The spaceport was in the middle of town, a tree of platforms branching out in a spiral around it. Ahsoka guided the  _Pioneer_ to a small platform that jutted out from a larger landing zone around the middle of the building's height. As the  _Pioneer_ swept down its wings into landing pattern, standing on them like a tripod, Ahsoka jerked the control stick and made the control pod descend to the floor. The seats reoriented so that she and Jahtee could step out onto the platform.

The heat blasted Jahtee as soon as their face was exposed to it. It was like being inside an oven. A few minutes later, they entered the port reception alongside Ahsoka. A bank of clerks were processing a large queue of arrivals. They joined the queue, standing in the (thankfully air conditioned) reception room until they were called by a Zeltron clerk.

"Welcome to Ad Catastor. Please hand me your clearance card so that we can continue," she said to Ahsoka, who complied. The Zeltron inserted the card into a reader and tapped on a keypad.

"Please confirm your name."  
  
"Ashla," Ahsoka said. "This is my plus one, Jahtee."

"Very well," the Zeltron woman said, withdrawing the card. "I've given you two days clearance to designated areas in the city centre, as arranged with by you with a representative of the Shomme Consortium." Ahsoka took back the card.

"I've also uploaded a copy of the laws of the Consortium. Please study them carefully, I think you'll find they will answer any questions you may have. If you are stopped by a Consortium security droid at any time, for any reason, please comply with any request. Failure to comply  _will_ result in your lawful termination."

"I understand," Ahsoka said. They filed out of the room and into a station where a maglev train stood awaiting passengers. They stepped on board, and the train raced off toward the tall buildings next to the lake.

Ahsoka took the train ride to explain the situation to Jahtee. "As you know, the Corporate Sector allows corporations to have full control over certain parts of space. They only have to follow their own laws. This whole planetary system is controlled by the Shomme Consortium, and the citizens are all technically property of the Consortium. It's run by an Ishi Tib woman, Molzin Shomme, as her personal Empire-away-from-Empire. Our contact's a high-ranking Corporate Director who's one of the few Directors who opposes Shomme's policies. Her name's G'huhu Jende, she's a Bith, and she's still technically Shomme's property, but she's trying to pull of a hostile takeover here that will shake up the Consortium - all legal under the Corporate Sector Authority - and place them as a prime supplier of the rebellion."  
  
"Well, she's got the spirit, it sounds like. But how do you fight a corporation that controls whole planets like this? It doesn't seem any easier than fighting the Empire."  
  
"With hope, of course," Ahsoka smiled. 

 ***

While his sister and Onnon rolled up snow into large balls outside, Katon Nuskell sat curled up on a sofa with his grandmother and Ursa Wren. He was looking through his datapad at tattoo designs.

He was finally going to be allowed to get a tattoo on his fourteenth birthday, a few months away. His sister had refused the traditional tattoos borne by many Espirions due to her fear of needles, but Katon was looking forward to getting his immensely. He wanted to go ostentatious, get something that made people take notice.

"What about this one?" He said to Ursa, bringing up a famous pattern that currently adorned the face of one of Espirion's most famous sports players, who was leading his team to victory against Imperial teams in an interstellar championship.

"Well, it's a very beautiful design," Ursa said, "but don't you want something more...you?"

"What do you mean?" Katon asked. "Haar Firth's the best player Espirion's ever seen. What could be more me than that?"

"Well, you could, for starters, silly lad!" Grandma Viola chuckled. "Get your head out of those holos and listen to your heart."  
  
Katon thought. Viola was right. He'd only been looking at other people's tattoos. An Espirion's tattoo was supposed to be deeply personal.

He looked at the wall of Viola's house, where her old armour, and that of Katon's grandfather's, still hung.

***

 The bar was a dingy, dark place, much like the world itself. It lay at the bottom level of the very same tower that Molzin Shomme lived and worked in. It was a place that labourers working in the city centre came to exchange their work hours for a drink or two before heading back to accommodation on the other side of town.

In the corner of the bar, gathered around a booth table, sat Ahsoka, Jahtee, and two of the leaders of Ad Catastor's only workers' union. It was an illegal operation under Consortium law, but with the influence of a few powerful figures sympathetic to the plight of the workers, the union hoped to enforce a system where the Union would take the place of Shomme's Board of Directors as the Consortium's owners, and from there establish rights and afford privileges such as education, healthcare, quality of accommodation,  and freedom of movement and choice of employment, none of which the indentured labourers on Ad Catastor or any of the other worlds the Consortium ran were guaranteed at the moment. Using this position within the Corporate Sector, the Consortium could freely provide supply to the rebellion without Imperial notice, along the trade routes that connected the Corporate Sector trade network and were run by Wa Conglomerate franchises.

G'huhu and her closest partner, a bearded Tarsunt named Pashi Musacke, had secretly operated the union for a decade underneath Shomme's beak. It had grown from a small gathering of just a few high-level employees to represent over 500,000 of Ad Catastor City's 2 million workers. Coordinating with Fulcrum over the course of recent years, they had prepared to overthrow Shomme's rule with a general strike, that the Union's members had been secretly spreading word of to the workers who were unhappy with their situations. Over a million labourers would lay down their tools tomorrow for the whole day, shutting down production entirely. This would mean that all of the City's security droids would be taken offline for the day as well, with nobody to maintain their charging stations. The directors sympathetic to the Union would thus threaten to continue the strike for as long as it took to legitimize the Union and depower Shomme's sole control of the Consortium.

"The Security droids won't be our only problem," Pashi informed. "We're gonna have to prepare to face Shomme's strikebreakers too, and any scabs who might try and take us down from within. So, be prepared to fight, and fight dirty - if they won't keep it clean, we won't either. Hopefully it won't come to that too much - looks like most of the workers are gonna support us. As long as we remember that we are many, and the strikebreakers are few, we can win the day, and every day after until we can live with respect."  
  
"Hopefully from there we'll be able to take on the whole Corporate Sector," G'huhu continued. "Not to mention the Empire, with your help."  
  
"It's a good plan. Shomme's Consortium is nothing without its workers. She may own their time, but she can't control their lives if they don't let her. I'm very proud of this plan we've hatched together," Ahsoka said. 

There were many labourers of many species around the bar. All were eagerly awaiting tomorrow's strike. Their time had finally come.

The next day, Ahsoka and Jahtee attended the meeting of the Board in Ad Catastor's Great Hall, at the very top of the highest tower in the City. The room was no more brightly lit than any other on this world, it seemed. The Board sat dimly illuminated in a set of chairs with desks attached, in a rough hemicircle facing the tank of saltwater that Molzin Shomme bathed in at all times. Behind the Board, in an amphitheatre-style set of rows of benches, sat the attendees, guests of the Board and other high-ups in the Consortium's leadership.

She clicked in Tibranese, barely containing her contempt for the people whose lives she owned as she demanded to know why production was down for the day. A state of the art white plated A3A-series protocol droid translated her words, its small vocalizer port glowing beneath its large disc-like photoreceptors with every word.

"Madame Shomme demands that the Board of Directors explain why not a single work hour has been logged today. All fabrication centres are scheduled to be operating at full capacity."

"The workers are striking!" G'huhu yelled, standing in her seat. "They're not going to take your oppression anymore!"

Clamour erupted all over the auditorium. Ahsoka and Jahtee remained quiet.   
  
"We demand that you create a legitimate trade union, and allow all workers the freedom to join it. If you do not meet these terms, the strike will continue, and no credits will reach your accounts until our rights are recognized!"  
  
Shomme clacked and clicked. A note of malice was conveyed in the droid's voice as it translated, "I knew this day would come. The traitors have finally revealed themselves. I'm afraid that your strike will end, and it will end today."  
  
"We can take your strikebreakers!" Someone yelled, "we are many and they are few!" A cheer rang out in the auditorium, but Ahsoka looked nervous.  
  
"Something's wrong..." she said to Jahtee.

"Maybe you could overwhelm my strikebreakers....but I'd like to see you take on my army of security droids! And what's more, I've got a few friends from the Outer Rim who would be very pleased to show these slackers some work ethic."

 Ahsoka bolted to her feet as a pair of large doors leading into the auditorium swung open. A tide of menacing, armed security droids, shield-and-baton wielding strikebreakers, and mercenary troopers clad head to toe in hazard suits flooded into the auditorium. The tension in the room snapped as dozens of blasters were drawn in the audience, and among the Board members, all at once. Some backed away toward the armed crowd that had entered the auditorium, but most stood their ground and fixed their blasters on their aggressors. The strike had turned into an uprising.

 At a command from Shomme, the battle commenced. Blaster fire lanced back and forth and people and droids were cut down where they stood. The union's allies in the audience ran to cover among the seats of the auditorium, and their enemies advanced steadily. Jahtee dived underneath the seats - they were unarmed, as outsiders weren't allowed to bring weapons into the city unless they had express permission to do so - and saw above them a human man pointing a holdout blaster directly at their head. Jahtee recognised him as an infamous landlord who owned one of the huge residential towers in the midtown, taking a cut of each occupant's work hours for himself. He seemed to like his situation, and had allied with Shomme. Jahtee closed their eyes and waited for the blast, but it never came. They opened them again and saw Ahsoka deliver a quick unarmed jab to both of the landlord's arms, causing him to drop his blaster, before knocking him across the room with a palm strike to his chest. Jahtee scrambled for the blaster as Ahsoka leapt over the auditorium benches toward the enemy. Apparently, she didn't need a weapon. Jahtee took aim, setting the blaster in deactivator mode, and sending a jolt of electricity through two squat security droids, frying their circuits. Ahsoka executed a flying jump from the front bench, somersaulting in the air and landing among one group of Shomme's forces. She disappeared for a split second in the mass, but quickly revealed herself after a Duros strikebreaker and an armoured merc were sent soaring through the air, landing with a splash in Shomme's saltwater tank. She fought unarmed, utilizing palm strikes and elbow blows along with sweeping leg kicks. She attacked at blinding speed, not allowing the enemies a second to take aim at her before she knocked them unconscious with a single blow. Jahtee turned their blaster to the other group of enemies. The union's allies were surging forth now, taking advantage of Ahsoka's distraction, and overwhelming their enemy with numbers. Jahtee quickly ran forward, staying low, to join the melee. A tall Yarkora strikebreaker bashed in the knees of a human man who stood just in front of Jahtee, and as he fell to the ground in agony, Jahtee blasted the Yarkora woman two times with the deactivator setting still on. The first blast was deflected by her tall shield, but the second connected with her large head, shocking her with a surge of electricity. Jahtee glanced over at Shomme's tank, where the two that Ahsoka had sent flying in there earlier floated unconscious, and now a group of the Directors were swarming the tank. G'huhu and Pashi were swimming inside the tank itself as two of their allies held their legs. The union leaders' hands were clasped around Shomme's arms, trying to drag her out. Just behind them, the Directors brawled with their fists and other assorted limbs. Chaos reigned in the room.

A blast from Jahtee's deactivator hit the helmet of an armoured merc. The boxy helmet began to smoke as arcs of electricity sparked across it, but its wearer tore it off and threw it across the room, revealing the furry head and sharp incisors of a Ranat underneath. The Ranat brought his blaster rifle around at fired off a round of deadly white bolts in Jahtee's direction. Jahtee dodged, and the bolts missed by inches. They charged their opponent, getting in close, and swatting the blaster rifle out of the way. Quickly, they switched the blaster pistol to stun mode and fired upward, hitting the Ranat in the chest. His eyes bulged and twitched, and he fell forward onto the ground, immobilized. 

On the other side of the room, Ahsoka dodged the swing of a baton and elbowed its human wielder in the stomach. She fell to the ground as a security droid tried to aim its blaster at her. The security droids were very upmarket, expensive and well-built, unlike the products of the Shomme Consortium. The Consortium's business model used its practically-zero labour costs to sell at rock bottom prices in low-budget markets the galaxy over. It raked in astonishing numbers of credits every business quarter - there were a lot of people in the galaxy who could only afford whatever was cheapest. It had footholds in almost every major market, from droids to starship parts, and datapads to moisture vaporators. The price of a cheap datapad was the exploitation of sentient beings who were essentially slaves - just like Master Anakin had been, and like the Zygerrian slavers had tried to make the people of Kiros. Ahsoka palmed the droid's chest and it shattered into pieces. The Force was a powerful ally, even without a lightsaber. 

In the middle of the room, G'huhu and Pashi had successfully yanked Shomme, kicking and screeching, out of her tank. She lay on the ground in a pool of saltwater, cowering under the three blasters pointed at her head.

"Your choice, tyrant! Either call off your murderers now, or die. Either way, the union will win," Pashi said, delivering the ultimatum. 

Shomme clacked a high pitched Tibranese statement. The protocol droid, still unharmed despite the chaos, translated. "Madame Shomme has ordered her security forces to stand down. She is ready to negotiate terms with the union."

G'huhu smiled in an inscrutable Bith way. "Victory is ours. We've fought for our rights, and now nobody can deny them."  
  


***

NB-117, the gangly network droid that Viola had reprogrammed and now acted as a caretaker for her, saw them out as Viola retreated to bed. The visit had lasted a few days.   
  
The families piled into a large speeder for the half-hour or so journey back to the spaceport. Jeshka sat next to Katon. As they got moving, he said in a low voice to his mother, "I think I know what tattoo I wanna get now,"

***

Three days after the workers' uprising, the terms had been agreed. Shomme would step down as absolute ruler of the Consortium, and the trade union would be recognised as a legitimate bargaining force. Every worker would be compensated fairly, in credits, and have the freedom to join the union or to leave the Consortium if they wished. Minimum work days, guaranteed weekends, and a number of safety regulations had also been obtained. The Board of Directors would now be in charge of the Consortium, and work with the union to deliver a company that would work for its employees and its profits equally. It was about the best deal they could hope for.

Ahsoka and Jahtee were accompanied on the maglev train back to the spaceport by G'huhu and Pashi, who had stepped down from the Board to run the now-legit union full time. 

"We stand ready to guarantee your Rebellion anything you need. The Empire can't touch us while we're still guaranteed by the ancient contracts of the Corporate Sector. May the Force be with you, Ahsoka, Jahtee, and with the Rebellion as well," said G'huhu.

Ahsoka smiled. "May the Force be with you, too."


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Nuskell family visits Espirion for Katon's fourteenth birthday. Belka and Vuche find their role in the emerging Rebellion. Jahtee and Ahsoka run into some trouble with the Empire.

The crowd erupted with cheers as the electrified ball impacted against the small 10-point target. On the giant display screen above, the face of Haar Firth, overcome with joy as he ran toward his teammates, loomed large as the clock ran down the final seconds. A loud buzz signaled the official end of the game, and the cheering grew even louder. Katon was screaming himself hoarse with joy, and tears were running down his red cheeks.

On the field, the black-uniformed Imperial team from Vardos looked angry and defeated. They stormed off the pitch, their star player, a two-meter tall bald woman named Seetra Semeshta, tore off her elbow pads and threw them on the ground, disgusted. These players were supposed to be the best of the best in the Empire. The Empire, wishing to invade every part of people's lives, fielded a number of elite specialist teams in every sport allowed on Holonet broadcast. The training they underwent was unimaginably brutal, frequently fatal, and extremely effective. All-human teams achieved things never thought possible in sports not designed for their physiology. It was a very effective demoraliser. Yet, against the odds, the Espirion team had cinched the grand final of the league in the last seconds, beating the previously invincible Vardos team by five points, ending their streak of winning the league six years running.

Katon's mothers and sister clapped and cheered alongside the rest of the crowd. People from hundreds of species, hundreds of worlds, had gathered at the stadium, and many, many more were watching on holos across the galaxy at this small act of rebellion. Even just one defeat showed that the Empire was not invincible.

***

"In conclusion, Onnon's education has been progressing admirably. She's already moved on to the second stage of her astrogation skills," the Headmaster of Elrait Academy said. Belka and Vuche sat in two chairs opposite him. He was an elderly Sephi, with dark peachy skin and a great white beard. Behind him stood his vice-Headmaster, a stocky Cathar woman with a cranial headset that augmented her vision and hearing. 

Belka smiled and squeezed Vuche's hand. "That's wonderful to hear, Headmaster," she said.

  
"What's more, she's displayed a real aptitude for languages and protocol. Even our resident protocol droid, A3, was impressed. But, aside from that, I have another thing I must discuss with you, aside from your daughter. As you know, Elrait's seen a wave of expansion in the last two years. The population's nearly double what it was since your daughter started school. This is great for our economy, but unfortunately it means the infrastructure is under some heavy strain. We just can't handle the number of ships coming in. Now, I also hear that your funding has somewhat...dried up." 

It was true. The money that Belka and Vuche had saved from JaVuBe was nearly gone. The time for them to start job-hunting again was soon. "Yeah, we're running a little low on hard credits right now," Belka confirmed.

"Well, I think I may have a solution. We're building a small orbital station with funding from the Elrait government, that's geosynced with the city. Now, Belka, I understand you have some experience with traffic control systems."  
  
"Oh, uh, only a little...and it was only intraplanetary, and it was a long time ago..."  
  
"You're still the most qualified person for the job at the moment!" He chuckled. "The pay will be very good, enough to provide for you and your wife and daughter. You can start as soon as the station is up and running."

"Oh, um..." Belka sounded unsure, but Vuche squeezed her hand. They turned and made eye contact, and Vuche nodded. Belka smiled at her, and turned back to the headmaster.

"Sure, I'll take it!"

***

Outside the small tattoo parlour, the celebratory parade for the Espirion team's victory was already in full swing. The family would shortly be joining the parade.

The finishing touches were finally being put on Katon's tattoo. It had taken a while since several different methods for inserting pigmentation had had to be used - the tattoo crossed Katon's eyelids and the bridge of his nose, requiring the use of special delicate tools and a lot of precision. But it was now done. The Espirion man stepped back from Katon and laid his tools back on a bench, then returned Katon's seat to its upright position, allowing him to take in the design in the mirror.

A T-shape now covered his face, starting just outside his eyes and meeting at the bridge of his nose, continuing down from there across his nose and down his chin. It was an emulation of the ancient style of Mandalorian helmets. It expressed his Mandalorian and Espirion heritage visibly and proudly.

It was perfect.

***

 Belka, the Headmaster of the Academy, and Belka's only co-worker sat in the gloom, rows of unoccupied stations lit up by the blue glow of their monitors. Her companion was a teenaged human, a dark mustache on his lips. She'd just finished teaching him all she remembered of traffic control. She felt a little nervous - the system was familiar, but she didn't feel qualified to head up responsibility for the station. Still, she used to handle thousands of coordinations every day at the station on Coruscant, threading the needle of the city's clogged skyways to direct aircraft to their destinations. Setting a few starships on a landing vector should be easy enough.

"Now," the Headmaster said in a low voice, "there's just one last responsibility I'd like to ask of you. We're going to hire a few more staff if the load becomes too heavy for just you two, but this responsibility must be kept only between you. Don't tell any of the other workers about this. Is that alright?"  
  
Belka was gripped by nerves again - what sort of secret responsibility was she going to undertake for the Headmaster of her daughter's school? - but she found herself nodding, and saw her companion do the same. 

"Okay. I've had a secret contact for a few years now. They're an intelligence agent named Fulcrum, and whoever they are, they run a secret network of cells across the galaxy who work against the Empire. Supposedly they've got contacts from places as disparate as Lothal and the Corporate Sector, but they need someone who can report on Imperial movements in the Expansion Region. The Empire will have to reveal the coordinates of their convoys for a few sectors around to our traffic control, so that we can plan out hyperspace routes for approaching ships. You two must report their positions to Fulcrum, every day, every update. The Empire won't know you're doing it, since Fulcrum's transmissions are always well encrypted. You'll be doing good work and hopefully helping to bring down the Empire. Now, are you in?"

Belka didn't hesitate this time. She was in.

***

 Green bolts lanced past the cockpit of the Sentinel-class transport. The TIEs were in pursuit.   
  
Behind Ahsoka and Jahtee, who were controlling the Sentinel as it dodged and weaved among the Imperial fighters' shots, a defector from Sienar Fleet Systems screamed in terror. He and about 2 dozen other workers had been exfiltrated from the orbital shipyards over Kuat, along with a cargo hold full of stolen equipment and plans. The plan had gone flawlessly until it was time to depart, when the alarm was raised suddenly and the station had been placed on high security. The entirety of Kuat Drive Yards' security fleet now pursued one sluggish, barely armed transport. 

"Hang on back there!" Ahsoka yelled. "I'm going to try something!"

Ahsoka slammed hard on a lever, bringing the transport into a spin and braking hard. The pursuing fighters overshot them and began to break to turn back. Jahtee pushed hard on the trigger of the wing-mounted blaster cannons the transport bore as Ahsoka brought the ship in an arc. Three fighters exploded as green laser blasts slammed into them from behind. Ahsoka shifted more levers and the transport accelerated, but not fast enough. A huge Imperial Star Destroyer loomed in their peripheral vision, off to port. Ahsoka gritted her teeth as she kept up the acceleration. She was counting on the Phoenix cell to show up now and cover their retreat. She only hoped that they would get there fast enough.

The Empire's army had swelled in the time that Ahsoka had been gathering intelligence alongside Bail Organa. The clone army was now phased out entirely, but the legion of conscripts that had plugged the gap was on its way out now too. The Empire's corps of professional troops, the Stormtroopers, alongside the Imperial Navy and their mechanized legions of walkers and tanks, now formed the mightiest fighting force seen in a millennium, since the disappearance of the Sith. It dwarfed the Republic's Grand Army, and probably wielded more power than the forces of both sides in the Clone Wars combined by now. Every season brought more and more troops into the already seemingly limitless Imperial army as the military academies on every world and system churned out trained killers. The Outer Rim fortress world of the Warlord Oberast had fallen last year after a siege that lasted a decade. Millions of conscripted troopers had been killed in the campaign - it was a death sentence to any poor soul sent there. But a legion of Stormtroopers with Navy support had felled the fortress and delivered Oberast's scaled head to the Emperor over the course of just a month. The Empire's war machine was as deadly as it was vast.

Ahsoka kept up the acceleration even as the Star Destroyer bore down on them. It seemed certain to intercept. But just as the arrowhead shape of the Destroyer filled the last of the viewport, she jerked on the controls and sent the transport barreling out of the way and just missing the hull of the Destroyer. Turbolaser emplacements fired on them, but Ahsoka span around and headed low along the top side of the ship, weaving in and out of the laser turrets and rushing past the bridge. Just as she did so, the welcoming shape of Phoenix Home burst into view behind the Destroyer. The remaining TIEs in pursuit pulled away, threatened off by bursts from the Phoenix's turbolaser cannons.   
  
"Jump, now!" Ahsoka yelled, Just as another Destroyer pulled into view ahead of them. The two ships entered hyperspace together before the Destroyer could fire on them. Ahsoka and Jahtee exhaled, as did the defector behind them. That had been a close one.

***

 Another transport sailed into port. They were indeed getting more and more frequent. The early days of boredom had been replaced by a near-constant flow of incoming starships, but Belka and her companion Starlo had remained the only two workers on the station. The pay had been handsome indeed - Belka and Vuche had been astonished when her first paycheck came. 

A ping came up on Belka's screen. A few sectors over, an Imperial convoy had come out of Hyperspace for unscheduled maneuvers. 

"This is Captain Upsalan of the ISD  _Dominance_ to all traffic control stations. We are making a stop in the Samovad system for maneuvers, and will remain here until tomorrow. Please adjust your schedules accordingly to avoid other traffic interfering."  
  
Belka's heart leapt into her throat. She looked over at Starlo, and the beads of sweat that formed on his brow told her that he had realised it too.

Samovad was where Fulcrum had arranged to drop off the defectors.

***

 The transmission crackled in the Sentinel transport's communicator. 

"This is Elrait agent to Fulcrum, do  _not_ go to Samovad! Repeat, Imperial convoy in Samovad system, mission may be compromised!"  
  
Ahsoka cursed. "Jahtee, bring up the astrogation chart! Let's see where we can stop off before Samovad!"  
  
Jahtee complied, and a holographic display of their route in space appeared. Jahtee's heart sank.

"There's, uh, only one safe point before we hit Samovad, but it's gonna be dicey. It's the Ring of Q'nash."

Ahsoka gritted her teeth again. "It'll have to do." The Ring was an infamous asteroid belt in the middle of a major hyperlane. It was a treacherous thing to navigate in hyperspace, but drift charts tracked its movements and generally allowed ships to traverse it at lightspeed. However, pulling out of hyperspace in the middle of the Ring could leave them in a tight spot.

"Fulcrum to Phoenix Home, prepare to exit hyperspace on my mark. Mission has been compromised, repeat, mission compromised. Samovar system is not safe."

There was a moment's hesitation, before a voice came over the comm. "Okay, Phoenix Home standing by for your mark."

Ahsoka waited just a second, before yelling, "NOW!"

The blue tunnel of hyperspace coalesced into solid stars again. Ahsoka had to immediately twist the controls to send the transport out the way of a large asteroid that tumbled toward them before smashing into another behind them. Phoenix Home pulled into space beside them. Jahtee saw Ahsoka's eyes widen as she cried into the comm, "Phoenix Home! Full rear shields, NOW!"

Seconds later, a huge asteroid crashed into Phoenix Home, but it was deflected as the shields were boosted just in time. Ahsoka slumped back in her seat. Jahtee brought up the asteroid drift charts now that they knew their position. The ships weaved between the asteroids as Ahsoka contacted their agent on Elrait.

"Elrait command, thanks for the warning. We'd be dead without you. Now, could you find us another safe meeting spot?"  
  
"Can do, Fulcrum!" came the reply, garbled just like Fulcrum's transmissions were to disguise identity. Jahtee, however, had a pretty good idea who was on the other side.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Nuskell family's path crosses with that of the Rebellion as Fulcrum and Co. visit Bail Organa on Alderaan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place between Star Wars Rebels Season 2 Episode 13 and the end of Season 2.

Steam hissed on the landing platform as the cockpit of the  _Pioneer_ descended. Ahsoka stretched as she and Jahtee stood up and out of the cramped seats, accompanied by an officer from Bail's ship, the Tantive IV. 

Bail and Breha stood with their teenaged daughter at the other end of the platform. "Welcome back to Alderaan, Fulcrum. It's good to have you back, we've got a lot of catching up to do!" Bail said, clasping Ahsoka's hand in a tight handshake.

Breha turned to Jahtee. "And I'm sure you're eager to see your old friends and check how big the kids are getting!"

"That I am, Breha," Jahtee answered. "Leia's shooting up, I see! Last time I saw you you were only yea high," Jahtee indicated approximately at their hips. Leia was silent, and seemed distracted by something. She fixed her gaze on Ahsoka.

***

A short time later, another ship swooped into the docks at Alderaan. A VCX-100 freighter, re-purposed and used by the Rebel squadron known as the Spectres. As part of Phoenix Cell, Jahtee had gotten used to working with these rebels from Lothal after they had first met over Mustafar. Jahtee had already met up with Jeshka, Chirangi and their children. Now they were accompanying the Spectres for some R&R after a tough mission, while Ahsoka and Bail talked shop in the palace.

 The tall Lasat called Zeb was brighter than his usual surly self. A short time ago, he'd discovered that he was not the last of his species, and that in fact a number of Lasat had managed to escape to the world of Lira San, which until recently he had thought a legend. Even their narrow escape from an Imperial ambush during the last mission had done little to dampen Zeb's spirits. The pilot of the Spectres' ship, Hera Syndulla, was a little less pleased.

"I thought we were going to have to ditch the  _Ghost_ back there," she complained. "We're going to run out of luck one day."  
  
"Hey, until that day comes, let's try not to worry about it," her partner - both romantic and professional - said. Kanan Jarrus was one of the very few Jedi remaining in the galaxy. Jahtee was overjoyed when they first met Kanan. Jahtee's experience with Jedi had been limited to their time with Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and later Ahsoka herself, who had not been a part of the order at any of the times they had been together, but Jahtee held immense respect for those who followed the Jedi teachings. They were pleased to see that the Jedi tradition had continued, with Kanan taking on a young apprentice of his own. 

The Spectres' last two members exited the damaged  _Ghost._ The group's C1 astromech droid accompanied Sabine Wren as she stepped down the landing platform onto Alderaan's surface. Jahtee had been surprised to find out that the Mandalorian woman who fought alongside the Spectres was none other than the daughter of their old comrade, Ursa Wren. Sabine had not wished to talk about her past much, and so she didn't know about Jahtee's time with her mother, though it was hard to hide Jahtee's own past as the head of a Mandalorian clan. However, she did know of the group of Mandalorian refugees, including Chirangi and Jeshka, who were living on Alderaan. 

Jahtee thought about clan Tosha. It had ceased to exist after Clan Saxon took over Mandalore, along with a number of other Clans that had opposed Imperial rule. Unlike almost every other takeover in Mandalorian history, there had been no struggle, no battle or coup. Only the threat that the Empire could devastate Mandalore even more than it already had devastated itself, if it so chose. Clan Tosha had therefore been disbanded. The group of non-human Mandalorians that made their home on Toutech V had been driven out of Mandalorian space, and the Toutech system was now yet another Imperial outpost, keeping watch on the Mandalore sector. It pained Jahtee that they had not been able to keep contact with many of the warriors of Toutech - only one, a Chagrian woman named Sarria Zhett, had managed to stay close to Jahtee through all that had happened. She worked for the Wa Conglomerate on Mykapo now.  ****

***

"I was never a warrior," said Morun Balass, one of the Mandalorian refugees. "I was just a labourer until Clan Vizsla conscripted me and my wife into their army. My wife died on the battlefield. I have no desire to fight again, and I'm too old even if I did, but I have great admiration for you and your crew, Sabine. You're a true Mandalorian through and through."  
  
Sabine winced. She didn't feel like a true Mandalorian. She'd left Mandalore behind for a reason, and one that her crew didn't yet know about. She'd been complicit in the Empire's oppression of Mandalore during her time at the Imperial Academy, helping the Empire design weapons to crush any attempt at resistance by the Mandalorians. 

"I'll be back in a minute," said Sabine. She stood and walked out of the room where the other Mandalorians sat with the Spectres. Hera watched her leave.

"What's up with her? I thought she'd be happy to be with her people," she whispered to Kanan.

"I sense something's up with Sabine. She's battling some demons, but it doesn't take a Jedi to tell that. She'll have to come forward with them in her own time."

Chirangi was eager to talk to the young Jedi apprentice, Ezra Bridger. He had built a lightsaber of his own, out of mere scraps. She was impressed by his ingenuity. Ezra sat between Chirangi and Hikaarni at the table.

"Oh, the hardest part was finding the crystal, definitely," Ezra said. "The rest was easy."  
  
"Where do you find a kyber crystal these days?" Chirangi asked. The Empire was scouring the galaxy for every kyber crystal they could find. They were exceptionally rare even before the Empire had laid claim to most of them, for whatever mysterious purpose. 

"There was a hidden Jedi temple on Lothal..." Ezra said, as Kanan made eye contact with him. "It wasn't easy even then. We had to do some, uh, trials, before I got the crystal."  
  
"Wow..." Hikaarni said, impressed. She'd never seen a lightsaber before. "Can I...hold it?"

"Oh? Ummm...yeah? Just don't turn it on, it's not easy to handle," Ezra said, pulling it out from under the table. Hikaarni turned it over, marveling at it. "What's this trigger for?" she asked Ezra.

"There's a blaster attachment, it fires shock blasts," Ezra explained. Hikaarni's eyes widened as they discussed the lightsaber's design.

Jeshka leaned over from Chirangi's right hand side and talked to Chirangi in a low voice.

"She hasn't said anything about it, but I'm pretty sure that Sabine's Ursa's daughter, the one who went to the academy," she said.

Chirangi turned to Jeshka. "I think you're right, but there's probably a reason she's not mentioned it. She's left the table as well. I feel like she's ashamed of something."

"Well, she's with the rebels now, and she used to be at the Imperial Academy. She's probably not proud of her past with the Empire."  
  
"Yeah...it seems like there's a little more to it than that. But, if she doesn't want to tell us, we can't make her. From the sounds of it her own crew doesn't even fully know."  
  
To Jeshka's right, Katon was talking with Hera. Hera was explaining about astrogation to Katon.

"...and that's one way to avoid damage from micrometeors at lightspeed. Not the most glamorous part of star piloting, but an important one nonetheless."  
  
Katon listened, enraptured by the details of space travel. He was just a little too young to apply for a piloting license, but he was decent enough with a speeder already. He could hardly wait until he could pilot a ship himself, and he wanted to know all about it. He said so to Hera now.

Kanan chimed in. "Well, it's good to hear you so enthusiastic about piloting, but you should keep your head in the moment. Don't get too distracted thinking about what's in the future, else your life will pass you by without you even noticing."  
  
Hera nodded in agreement, but conceded, "still, I hope you'll become a great pilot some day. Just try not to let that get in the way of what else is important, okay?" She put her arm around Kanan's shoulders lovingly as she said this. 

Maybe Kanan had a point. Two years ago, Katon had had his first and only romantic relationship, with a boy from school. It could definitely have been described as rushed. His sister had had better luck with relationships than he had, and she was the definition of "living in the moment", almost the polar opposite of Katon's daydreaming about the future. Was that what Kanan and Hera meant by "what else is important"? They certainly seemed to love each other very much.

As Zeb roared with laughter at the opposite side of the table, alongside several of the other Mandalorian guests, Sabine re-entered the room. She looked a little weary, but smiled and settled back to her seat. She was a little talkative, chatting about art with a couple of Mandalorian guests, and having a discussion with Hikaarni about music, art and culture. The sun went down out the window, and eventually the gathering drew to a close as most of the guests retreated to bed for the night. The Spectres would be on their way again tomorrow as soon as their ship was finished being patched up. Sabine stayed behind a while, and as Hera returned to the table to ask after her, she saw that she was deep in conversation with Jeshka Nuskell.

"I've tried to do my best with the Welfare Corps, but it's just not enough. There are trillions more beings who aren't getting any help from us. Every mission I go on I just come back feeling sicker each time. The Empire's got to end if we're to help any of these people, really help them," Jeshka said wearily. 

"The Rebellion's still only small," Sabine said, "and the Empire's always on our tail. It's a dangerous life. You should stay here with your children." They noticed Hera now as she sat down. 

"Captain Syndulla!" Jeshka exclaimed, surprised. "I was just...talking with Sabine here, about the rebellion. My wife and I are - we're warriors, or we were once. I wanted to leave my past behind...I did terrible things on Mandalore, during the civil war, but it keeps coming back. I feel the call of my armour again. I know that, one day soon, I'll have to wear it again, one last time. And I'd like you both to know that, when that day comes, I'd be honoured to wear it at your side."  
  
Silence reigned for a moment. Hera then looked at Sabine, and nodded. Sabine took out a small holo-communicator and handed it to Jeshka.   
  
"We've recently made contact with the Protectors on Concord Dawn. We have a route in and out of Mandalorian space, and we've had run-ins with Viceroy Saxon before now. The time may come when the warriors of Mandalore will fight by the side of the Rebellion. I'll send you a message on this comm if that day comes, and you and your wife can fight the good fight one last time. For Mandalore."  


"For Mandalore," Jeshka said solemnly. 

***

 Jeshka held a little torch to light her way home. Alderaan's moonless nights were dark. The beam of light from the torch eventually illuminated her house, and she stole in quietly, not wanting to wake the children. She switched off the torch and turned up a dial on the wall, to gently illuminate the entry hall with a cozy orange light. In the dining room, Jeshka's wife sat in wait for her return.  
  
"How'd it go, my love?" Chirangi asked in a hushed voice, standing from her seat and striding over to embrace her wife. 

"Pretty well, I think. It's not easy for the rebels. At least we've got the protection of Bail. They're on their own. But, they're willing to accept us, even though we're both...past our prime!"

They chuckled quietly together. It was true - they were both in their fifties now, and had not trained for combat in an embarrassingly long time. Parenthood had taken its toll on their bodies as well. 

"I hate to admit it, but I almost hope it doesn't come to us to have to fight again. War has taken so much from us already. I wish we could just be happy together..." Chirangi said.  
  
"As long as the Empire reigns, there's no happiness to be found. For our kids' sake, and for the rest of the galaxy...when the call comes, we have to fight. Even just once, even if we die in the attempt...we've got to make it right."


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Gar Saxon's death at the hand of Ursa Wren, and the return of the Darksaber to Mandalore, the fight to liberate Mandalore is on. Jeshka and Chirangi must leave Alderaan behind to fight for Mandalore, together, one last time...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place just after Star Wars Rebels Season 3 Episodes 15 & 16.

Jeshka flicked off the holo-comm. Her heart raced. The day she and her family had been preparing for had come. She hoped that their preparations had been enough.

*** 

The CR90 Corvette burst out of hyperspace, above the bustling skies of Ad Catastor. In the aftermath of the disappearance of Ahsoka Tano, Jahtee had relocated to Ad Catastor and served as one of the Directors of the former Shomme Consortium, now known as the Pioneer Corporation. Profits and productivity in the space occupied by the Corporation had soared after the establishment of the major trade union, which was still run by G'huhu Jende and Pashi Musacke. 

In a small bunk room located just off the Corvette's main corridor, Jeshka was stirred from her slumber by a rap on the door.   
  
"We've arrived at our destination, making our landing in one hour," came the voice of the Corvette's captain, followed by the click of his boots on the ship's polished white floor. Chirangi was already standing. Age had made Chirangi a light sleeper and an early riser both. 

"Morning, love," Chirangi said sweetly as Jeshka rubbed her eyes and sat up. Chirangi finished sealing up her turquoise jumpsuit and sat down next to Jeshka, putting one arm over her shoulder and clasping her other hand around both of Jeshka's.   
  
Jeshka closed her eyes as she ran her own fingers over Chirangi's. Every detail, every bump and callus of her hand was as familiar as the words of the rite of marriage that they had recited all those years ago. Time had not withered the simple thrill that was being close to her wife.

It had pained Chirangi to leave her children behind, but one was already an adult and the other was nearly there. They had their own lives now. Hikaarni had a job on Alderaan at a musical archive, earning a couple of credits and staying alone in the little family home, and Katon was staying with Belka and Vuche on Elrait, apprenticing under Belka at the traffic control station. 

In the hour before their landing, Jeshka and Chirangi dressed one another in their formal wear. Chirangi still held on to the same plates of lacquered armour that had adorned her body a lifetime ago, when she first took up arms. The fight had never been her first choice, unlike her wife, but over the course of the war she had learned the importance of fighting for what she believed in.

***

Jahtee met them at the spaceport, along with the rest of the Board of Directors, and the heads of the Union. Chirangi and Jeshka hadn't been completely alone in their trip. About a dozen other Mandalorian refugees had accompanied them from Alderaan to join the fight against the Empire back on Mandalore. But a dozen warriors, even Mandalorians, did not an army make. They needed more.  
  
The corvette had been a provision from Bail Organa, but it was not intended to take them to Mandalore or engage in combat against the Empire, for fear of betraying Bail's part in the growing Rebellion. The Pioneer Corp had no such qualms about keeping up appearances, however. 

As they walked with Jahtee to the docks where a state-of-the-art (but low cost) patrol cruiser was waiting for them, Jahtee discussed their plan.

"As you know, both our Clans, Clan Tosha and Clan Nuskell, were disbanded by Clan Saxon when they took over," they said to Chirangi, "but Clan Orash is still on Mandalore, and I know where we can find someone who's still loyal to Clan Tosha. I can't be the leader of Clan Tosha again - I have responsibilities here - but I trust her completely with the future of my clan."  
  
"How will we find her?" asked Jeshka.

"Go to Mykapo, seek out the Wa Conglomerate. She works at their head office there, ask for Sarria Zhett. And," Jahtee said, reaching into their billowing cloak, "take this with you."

Jahtee revealed a simple metal chain with two lacquered discs on the end of it, one slightly larger than the other, and the larger one green and brown while the smaller was black.

  
"This is an ancient symbol of Clan Tosha. The discs represent Mandalore's moons. And what's more, I've hidden a security override in each of the discs. The one inside the Concordia disc will get you into the Wa Head Office, and the Astore disc can get you into the base on Toutech V."

Chirangi nodded. "And once we've made contact with Sarria, we can make our move on Toutech. I only hope we have enough warriors to take it back."

***

 Jeshka eased the patrol cruiser through space toward the orbital Mura Station. Since a refurbishment supported in part by the Pioneer Corporation, the station was now a clean and modern operation, and the site of the Wa Conglomerate's new Head Office. The ship navigated to a spot between two bulk cruisers, heaving with goods and waiting to unload them at the station. When asked for their landing clearance, Chirangi inserted the black disc into a slot on the control panel. Sure enough, a code contained within the disc was read and transmitted, expediting their arrival and granting them access to the Head Office.

 The entire station bustled with activity. Every corridor was filled with people rushing here and there, only looking to where they were headed. Jeshka and Chirangi were escorted by a uniformed member of station staff, who expertly parted the seas of people, allowing Jeshka and Chirangi unimpeded progress toward their destination.

Stepping into the Head Office was like entering an oasis of calm in a desert of noise. Almost all the bustle from just outside the door which had just slid shut behind them was gone. The office was plainly decorated in shades of pastel. The walls were a pale lavender, and opposite them, a receptionist droid stood installed into an off-white desk. Behind the droid, the two Aurebesh characters "W" and "A" stood large in a sharp yellow colouration, bursting out of the pale wall.

"Welcome to Wa Head Office, I am WSD-009," the droid said in a neutral, yet welcoming voice. "How may I be of assistance today?"

"Yes, hello," Chirangi said a little awkwardly, "we're here to see Sarria Zhett."

"Director Zhett is only available with an appointment today. Do you have an appointment?" The droid inquired.

"Well, no, but I do have this..." Chirangi said, presenting the disc. The droid extended a simple arm from its otherwise smooth and cylindrical body, taking the disc and scanning it with a pair of rectangular scanners set into the top of its cylinder.

"Authorisation accepted. Please proceed to meeting suite 5. The Director will be with you shortly."

Director Zhett eventually emerged after about half an hour of lounging in the sumptuous seats of meeting suite 5. She wore a black, functional suit and a name badge, and sat down across from Jeshka and Chirangi, placing her hands gently on the sleek white surface of the table.  
  
"So, Jahtee sent you, I presume," Sarria smirked.  
  
"Yes, they gave us this," Jeshka said, placing the chain and discs on the table.   
  
Sarria closed her eyes and smiled. "I knew this day would be coming soon. The Imperial Holonet isn't reporting the fighting on Mandalore, but I've got my own sources in here. So, I took the liberty of making a few contacts myself before you came."  
  
Chirangi looked puzzled. "Contacts?"

"Clan Tosha! It took me years, but eventually I managed to track down enough of the former warriors from Clan Tosha to get a network going. Some of them are getting on a bit, but there's also some new blood too. A few of them have kids of fighting age, who agreed to come along with their parents if the call ever came."  
  
Jeshka's eyes widened. "That's fantastic! We only had a few other warriors when we came to you. We're planning to liberate Toutech V and take down the Imperial observation post there."

"What's your plan of action? An all-out assault is too risky, even with the extra bodies I've got."

"We're going to knock out the comms relay first. That'll stop them being able to monitor incoming and outgoing ships in the sector, and stop them from calling in reinforcement. We've got allies in Clan Wren, including Ursa Wren and her daughter Sabine. If we can occupy the garrison long enough for them to send a team in, they can set explosive charges and blow the station to pieces. After that we'll be free to use the old Tosha base on Toutech as a staging ground, and make our advance on Mandalore itself," explained Chirangi.

***

Twelve heavy fighters drifted out of the docking bays of the patrol cruiser. Each was a two-pilot system, with swept back wings that could assist in operations in-atmosphere. To cut down on costs the previous model had contained no atmospheric repulsors, being designed for exclusive operations in space, but the new model had a rudimentary atmos-repulsor system courtesy of the Wa Conglomerate. This allowed the squadron to make its entry to the hazy atmosphere of Toutech V.

"All fighters, check in. We're about to start our approach," Jeshka said over the comm. She and Chirangi were co-piloting the lead fighter, Chirangi seated just behind Jeshka and slightly above, facing the same way. 

"Strill Two, checking in," came Sarria's voice over the comm, followed by ten other voices confirming the presence of a full squadron.

"This is Beskar One reporting," came the deep voice of Suven Mattrap, a Shistavanen man who had been one of Sarria's former comrades in Clan Tosha. He was piloting the bulky rigger freighter that was carrying the remaining warriors inside it, an impromtu transport, and one that the squadron would have to be careful to protect.

"Get into formation, watch those enemy fighters and protect the transport. Strill One, out."

The fighters formed a rough triangle around the freighter as they entered the atmosphere. The ship's wings rattled noticeably on entry, but didn't fly off, which was a good sign. Jeshka and Chirangi's fighter was at the leading point of the triangle. Dark clouds obscured much of their visuals, but the environment scanners situated in front of Chirangi displayed a simple topographic readout of the surface below. At the extreme end of the display, a mountain range came into view, followed by a boxy protrusion nestled among the peaks. This was the former Clan Tosha fortress. Jutting out into empty air a few peaks away from the fortress, a large dish shape signaled the presence of an Imperial tracking station.

"Target identified, mark five-five-six, distance approximately fifteen klicks," Chirangi transmitted. "Accelerate to attack speed and prepare the transport for landing!"

The mountains eventually materialised into view through the ashy clouds. Just as they did, Chirangi detected movement on her scope.

"Incoming fighters! Stay tight!"

Green light flashed in the clouds, followed by a roaring sound and a rapid disturbance in the clouds. An Imperial fighter burst into view just ahead, scattering ash in its wake, and blazing green blasts in the direction of the freighter. The formation wheeled as the rest of the enemy fighter's squadron revealed themselves, easily outmaneuvering the cheap fighters that the Mandalorians were using. Chirangi had to hope that their weapon emplacements would make up for their unwieldy nature.

Four TIEs were now visible on their tail, and a further eight were concealed in cloud cover. Blaster bolts raked the transport's hull, explosive bursts rocking the ship as its shields took the strain of impact. 

"Take us up, sweetie!" Chirangi yelled to Jeshka. Jeshka complied, raising the fighter so that its rear weapons were clear of the transport. Chirangi was facing away from their pursuers, but she took aim with the targeting computer on her display and pressed hard on the trigger. Yellow bolts streaked out from gun turrets placed behind and to either side of her, and the target on her screen disappeared, followed by a loud explosion from behind her.

 More fighters swooped in ahead, strafing their formation. One of their tailing fighters was hit on its wing and sent spiraling below. 

"We're hit! I-argh!" came the final words of Mi Shariihed, a Nikto warrior who had accompanied the others from Clan Tosha. He and his copilot, a young Cerean woman who had taken up her dead father's armour, died in fire far below. Chirangi gritted her teeth angrily and retaliated, blowing another TIE to pieces. A transmission came through from one of the fighter pilots.

"This is Strill Six, should we break formation and engage those fighters?"

"No!" Chirangi yelled back, "keep heading for the objective and don't slow down until we land!" Strill Six was inexperienced, but the son of a fine Tosha warrior, who stood now in the transport. He would learn. 

The TIEs' fire was withering, but fortunately they had only lost the one fighter by the time that the transport had begun its landing sequence. With delicacy that was not obvious at a first glance, its bulky body was maneuvered into position just behind the station's large disc. Fifty Mandalorian warriors, of near as many species ran down two landing ramps, each bearing the bright yellow armour of Clan Tosha. Twelve more, including Chirangi, rocketed out from the opened cockpits of their fighter craft as the pilots angled them into strafing vectors, blasting away at the station's anti-air defenses with forward cannons. The warriors already standing on the wide platform behind the disc were thrust immediately into danger. Two turrets flanked the disc, blaster cannons mounted on swiveling heads that fired deadly bursts of blaster fire. But the Mandalorians were flexible, and spread out, reducing the effectiveness of the turrets, and jetting forward, they engaged the turrets at close range. 

Chirangi jetted up to the top of one turret. She plunged her weapon deep into its head, and sparks and smoke flew as its circuits were shredded by the vibrations of her blade. Sarria skillfully dodged the tracking shots of the other turret, and swooped around behind it, unleashing a rocket from her wrist vambrace and blowing the turret's blaster clean off. Just as this was happening, an elevator clanked into place at the other end of the platform, bringing up a squadron of Imperial troopers, their shining white armour a contrast to the dark swirl of cloud cover around them. With wordless discipline, the troopers arranged in formation, laying down a hail of fire that forced the Mandalorians into cover. They were outnumbered already, even as a second group of enemies appeared over the edge of the platform opposite the first. A group of Imperial Supercommandos, equipped with jetpacks and Imperial facsimiles of Mandalorian armour. 

Chirangi was crouched behind one of the struts of the large dish. Blaster impacts sparked on the ground behind her and on the strut, but she was covered. She checked the timepiece in her helmet visor. The Wren warriors would be here soon. They had to take down the dish.

"Break cover!" she commanded. "Into the air, now! Aim rockets at the struts and get ready to face those commandos!"

Sarria followed them up. She was the de facto leader of Clan Tosha now, but submitted to Chirangi's superior experience in appointing her this mission's leader. Sixty-two rockets impacted on the vulnerable struts, a mighty explosion tearing the dish from its base. It began to tip forward slowly. 

To Chirangi's left, one of her compatriots was hit by a red blaster bolt and sent flying to the ground far below. A swarm of commandos filled the sky, unleashing blaster fire, and the warriors of Clan Tosha returned in kind. They'd accomplished one objective, but the battle was not over yet.

***

The entire compound seemed to shake as the sound of an explosion rang out dully through the air. Fleet Commander Rein Barashad gritted her teeth and prepared for bad news. 

"Sir, the comms dish is offline! Unable to call reinforcements!" came the panicked report of an Officer seated at the console in front of her, surveying the status of the outpost.

"Short range sensors are picking up additional enemy craft incoming. Should we prepare to evacuate?" another officer further along the console inquired.

"No," Rein commanded flatly, "stay at your posts. These rebels will be dealt with before they reach inside this fortress. Send out the patrol transports - let's have them meet my bodyguard."

***

 Chirangi weaved among the incoming bolts from her opponent as she rocketed toward him, their deadly aerial dance ending with a swipe of her trusty halberd that bit through the enemy's armour and into his flesh. All around, delicate dogfights between jetpack wielders raged, but Chirangi's allies were outnumbered. 

 A roar of engines signaled the arrival of Clan Wren, a single transport escorted by the remaining eleven fighters from their earlier approach. The transport broke off and headed over the other side of the mountain, toward where the entrance to the facility lay opposite the abandoned Tosha fortress. 

"Strill squadron, we're pinned here!" Chirangi yelled through her helmet mic as she watched Sarria getting backed up by a pair of enemy commandos as she struggled to return their fire. Chirangi unholstered her blaster pistol as she commanded, "lay down some covering fire on those troopers, let's push through and get in there! All Tosha warriors, dive to cover, now!" 

"Got it, commander," Jeshka replied from her fighter's cockpit, leading the bombardment. Forward cannons unleashed yellow bolts onto the platform, exploding into bursts of fire, heat and smoke. Chirangi's allies retreated to the safety of the ledge, escaping the danger of the bombardment in time. Taking advantage of the confusion, Chirangi looses two blasts from her pistol into the backs of Sarria's assailants. She jetted over to where Sarria now hovered, and shook her gently by the shoulder.  
  
"You okay?" Chirangi asked.

"Yeah, I'm just a little shaken. Thanks for the save," Sarria said, knocking Chirangi's own shoulder gently with a fist. The noise from the top of the platform ceased, and Chirangi indicated they should head back topside. 

Chirangi's feet finally hit solid ground again after the protracted aerial battle she had just waged. There were now two fighters parked on the platform just next to the transport. Jeshka stepped down out of hers, and she and Chirangi briefly embraced, before heading off with the rest of the group onto the large elevator.

"Heading down to the inside now," Sarria said, hitting a button on the elevator's console. "You've all fought well," she said, looking around at the remaining warriors. Their casualties had been not insignificant - eight warriors were already dead. "But don't let up now. We will reclaim this fortress before the day is done! We will reclaim our home!"

The yellow armoured warriors cheered.

***

 Hernan Socrason led his group up to the next level of the facility. It should be a clear shot to their objective, a supporting column that, if destroyed, could take down the entire facility, leaving the Tosha fortress free to be reclaimed. 

"Clan Wren, advance!" he yelled, as the door at the top of the stairwell opened. A long hallway awaited them, barricades set up to impede their progress, with heavy turrets behind. No match for a Mandalorian.

The two dozen Wren warriors controlled the chaos of battle, pushing ever forward, inching along the corridor despite the obstacles in their path. They kept mobile, their small shields sufficient to deflect the turret's blasts until they could get close enough to cut down the operators with blaster pistols and vibro-weapons. 

The engagement had blooded them. Jareet and Ayahman were down. But they reached their objective, the octagonal room with a set of large windows being locked down and secured. Keena Wuriarann hurried to the pillar, taking out the explosive charges she had secured to her back in place of a jetpack, and starting to set them to detonate. Once she pushed the detonator, they'd have only a short time to get clear. The Tosha warriors on the other side of the facility would cover their exit, drawing the guards away from the retreat and occupying them long enough to get away.

"That's the charges set. Tell the others we're ready to - wait, what's that?"

One large window was suddenly blacked out by the shadow of an Imperial patrol craft.

***

 Below the former communications dish, the elevator had opened into a wide cargo bay. The battle lines had been drawn inside the bay, and Chirangi, Jeshka and the others were struggling to move them. Chirangi weaved about behind Jeshka among huge crates, taking what opportunities she could to return fire against the stormtroopers who were entrenched behind a barricade at the other end of the bay. Normally it would have been easy enough to outmaneuver their stationary opponents, but two point-defense turrets mounted in the ceiling had limited their movements, effectively grounding them.

Jeshka checked the timepiece on her visor. They'd been engaged a long time. The Wren group should be done by now, what was keeping them?

Just as Jeshka was wondering this, Chirangi received the answer through her helmet comm.

"Tosha group! We've been intercepted! The charge is set but you'll -" the sound of blaster fire and screams cut off the comm for a second - "...tonate it yourself! We - aaah!"

Chirangi's heart sank. She relayed the message to her allies. They had to push through and set off the charge themselves. That meant taking out the turrets first and foremost.

 


End file.
